http://medievalshoppe.com.au2018-05-24T17:26:29Z2017-06-21T02:36:19Z2017-06-21T02:36:19Zhttp://medievalshoppe.com.au/medieval-shoppe-australia/our-ethos/The Middle Ages in Europe were a time of
increasing enlightenment and progress - many would not agree with this
statement, but let us examine the facts. For example: the writing of music. It’s true that many ancient cultures used symbols to represent melodies and rhythms, none of them were particularly comprehensive though,
and this has restricted our knowledge of their music. The seeds of what would
eventually become modern western notation were sown in medieval Europe: this is why we know what medieval music
sounded like and what the tunes were. The first trans-Atlantic sea
crossings (be it by Columbus or the Vikings) were facilitated by medieval nautical
advancements and superior European ship-building. Medieval Europe gave us
movable-type printing, banking, the heavy plough and tradable stock bonds. Its
society produced the Magna Carta (and
the lesser known, but equally important Charter
of the Forest). These bestowed many
hitherto unknown civil rights upon the common man. We have been left with hundreds
of glorious towering structures (that remain impressive to this day) such as
Notre Dame and Warwick Castle: which serve as testaments in stone to a highly
advanced civilization. At The Medieval Shoppe we passionately acknowledge the
Middle Ages as a noble era and celebrate this in our wares and merchandise. ]]>false2015-06-15T00:00:00Z2015-06-15T00:00:00Zhttp://medievalshoppe.com.au/medieval-shoppe-australia/thoughts-about-the-800th-anniversary-of-the-magna-carta-and-how-its-authors-betrayed-england/

As we all know, King John was not a good king. He probably murdered his nephew Arthur and he would often “tamper with” the wives and daughters of some of his barons – “too covetous of pretty women” as one contemporary writer put it, but we shouldn’t write-up the barons of Runnymede as great heroes. Many of them were very materially driven as they resented having to give so much money to King John. Also, it’s widely forgotten that the Magna Carta sparked a massive civil war and a French conquest of England. The Magna Carta itself was only in force for 9 weeks, because King John reneged on the deal. The enraged barons then invited King Louis of France to be the king of England and the French occupied most of England for 18 months, including the city of London.

Louis was everything John wasn’t: he was a chivalric prince, loyal to his wife and set very high standards of conduct. As for King John, after a few defeats, he died in a great storm howling around Newark castle on the night of October 17/18 1216. His heir was a nine year old boy (Henry III). The hopes of an independent England, along with John’s dynasty, seemed lost, but then William Marshal (the Earl of Pembroke) stepped in, claiming that even if the whole world were to forsake the boy – he would not. By this time virtually everybody else had gone over to Louis. William Marshal raised an army and against all odds, defeated the French and many of the Magna Carta barons at Lincoln. After this surprise defeat, all the French troops in England withdrew to London.

A shocked Louis sent over to France for reinforcements. This French relieving force was brought over by a notorious cross-dressing pirate admiral called Eustace the Monk (no I’m not making this up). Eustace’s armada was met by the English navy in the channel and soundly defeated - so Louis was now stuck in London without supplies, reinforcements or money (all of these went down with the French fleet). Thus he was forced to come to terms with William Marshal. Ironically, William Marshal saved the Magna Carta by defeating its authors! If Louis had won, it is very unclear whether he would have confirmed Magna Carta or whether he would have been asked to. Louis was of good character, so it’s doubtful they would have forced the Magna Carta upon him as there would have been no need to do so (under his benign rule).

Had not John died at that vital moment, and had not William Marshal stepped up to the challenge of defending the vulnerable boy king, the Magna Carta would probably by now be a long forgotten document. It was also Marshal who later took the decision to issue a new charter on behalf of the new king: THE CHARTER OF LIBERTIES (which was the Magna Carta minus one clause). Moreover, it was William Marshal’s largely forgotten CHARTER OF THE FOREST (sealed by the young Henry III) which granted far greater freedoms to the ordinary people of Medieval England than the Magna Carta ever did. The Charter provided a right of common access to (royal) private lands, which meant that ordinary people were granted the right to graze their animals, collect firewood and to even hunt small game on vast areas of the country which had been off-limits to the common people. The Charter was the statute that remained longest in force in England (from 1217 to 1971), being finally superseded by the Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act 1971.

Within the time of men who still live, the Black Hole was
torn down and thrown away as carelessly as if its bricks were common clay, not
ingots of historic gold. There is no accounting for human beings.

Mark Twain

……………………

The Siege

In the mid 18th Century,
Bengal was ruled by the firm hand of a
ruthless and cunning leader: Ali VardiKhan.
Once, when troubled by various Maratha incursions into his territory, he
invited their commander Bhaskar Pandit to peace talks, which Ali VardiKhan and
all his leading commanders duly attended.

A productive
dialogue ensued and negotiations were going well - until that is, a mob of
Bengali soldiers sprang from behind the curtains, hacking, stabbing, slashing
and chopping their way through the high
ranking peace delegation- leaving
nothing but a messy pile of noble corpses in the
summit room. A contemporary historian remarked bitterly: ‘The annals of
Indostan scarcely afford an example of such treacherous atrocity, and none of
which persons of such distinction were the actors.’

Ali VardiKhan was
certainly not a man not to be crossed, although he harboured a curios affection
for his debauched grandson (who was also his grand nephew), Mirza Mahmood, a
tyrant (or hero) known to history by his title of Sirajud Dowla[1&91;
(Lamp of the State).

Mirza had at one
time become impatient to succeed his grandfather. To rectify this apparent
injustice he turned to open rebellion and besieged Patnain Bihar. His co-conspirators were quickly killed off in
the struggle and with characteristic lack of determination, Sirajquickly
surrendered. Ali VardiKhan
unequivocally forgave his errant grandson and in 1753 he officially made him
the successor to the throne, creating no small amount of division in the family
and the royal court. In 1778, Robert Orme wrote of this relationship:

Mirza Mahmud [Siraj&91;, a youth of seventeen years, had discovered
the most vicious propensities, at an age when only follies are expected from
princes. But the great affection which Allaverdy [Ali Vardi&91; had borne to the father was transferred to
this son, whom he had for some years bred in his own palace; where instead of
correcting the evil dispositions of his nature, he suffered them to increase by
overweening indulgence: born without compassion, it was one of the amusements
of Mirza Mahmud's childhood to torture birds and animals; and, taught by his
minions to regard himself as of a superior order of being, his natural cruelty,
hardened by habit, rendered him as insensible to the sufferings of his own
species as of the brute creation [animals&91;: in conception he was not slow, but
absurd; obstinate, sullen, and impatient of contradiction; but notwithstanding
this insolent contempt of mankind, innate cowardice, the confusion of his ideas
rendered him suspicious of all those who approached him, excepting his
favourites, who were buffoons and profligate men, raised from menial servants
to be his companions: with these he lived in every kind of intemperance and
debauchery, and more especially in drinking spiritous liquors to an excess,
which inflamed his passions and impaired the little understanding with which he
was born. He had, however, cunning enough to carry himself with much demureness
in the presence of Allaverdy, whom no one ventured to inform of his real
character; for in despotic states the sovereign is always the last to hear what
it concerns him most to know.[2&91;

Although
conveniently proclaimed as a freedom fighter in modern India,
historians of the period, both British, Frenchand Indian, tell us that Sirajwas
nothing but an opportunistic degenerate braggart.

Owing to Sirajud
Dowla’s harshness of temper and indulgence, fear and terror had settled on the
hearts of everyone to such an extent that no one among his generals of the army
or the noblemen of the city was free from anxiety. Amongst his officers,
whoever went to wait on Sirajud Dowla
despaired of life and honour, and whoever returned without being disgraced and
ill-treated offered thanks to God. Sirajud Dowla
treated all the noblemen and generals of Mahabat Jang [Ali VardiKhan&91;
with ridicule and drollery, and bestowed on each some contemptuous nickname
that ill-suited any of them. And whatever harsh expressions and abusive epithet
came to his lips, Sirajud Dowla
uttered them unhesitatingly in the face of everyone, and no one had the
boldness to breath freely in his presence.

Another great
Muslimhistorian
of the period, Ghulam Husain Tabatabaihad this to say
about him:

Making no
distinction between vice and virtue, he carried defilement wherever he went,
and, like a man alienated in his mind, he made the house of men and women of
distinction the scenes of his depravity, without minding either rank or
station. In a little time he became detested as Pharaoh, and people on meeting
him by chance used to say, ‘God save us from him!'

A Frenchman and
ally in his court, by the name of Law, gives the following insightful account
of this Bengali Caligula:

He was often seen,
in the season when the river overflows, causing ferry boats to be upset or
sunk, in order to have the cruel pleasure of seeing the confusion of a hundred
people at a time, men, women, of whom many were sure to perish.

When Sirajwas not
busy sinking ferry boats and hounding his nobles, his other pleasures included
cutting open the bellies of women in advance stages of pregnancy to observe how
the squirming child lay in the womb and kidnapping beautiful Hindu maidens who
were accustomed to bathe on the banks of the river Ganges. This he would do with the aid of spies, who
were paid to inform him of the whereabouts of the prettiest females. Even
before he attained the throne, the British were weary of him, refusing him
entry into their homes lest he break the furniture! Forget the patriotic Indian
jingoism - Sirajwas a
monster, a vicious base degenerate pervert.

Ali VardiKhan’s long
life drew to a close at Murshidabadin April
1756. A few days before his death his death the old Nawab (ruler) is said to have solemnly told his heir, 'keep in view
the power the European nations have in the country. Think not to weaken all
three altogether. The power of the English is great. Reduce them first; the
others will give you little trouble when you have reduced them. Suffer them not
to have fortifications or soldiers.'

Ali VardiKhan’s
dyeing wishes were at odds with his previously recorded views on Europeans.
Perhaps bitter experience had hardened his attitude or the trauma of lying on
his deathbed had somehow clouded his judgement.A Muslimhistorian
asserted that Ali Vardihad at
one time recognised the formidable greatness of England, especially its maritime
capabilities. For example, upon hearing that one of his generals was advocating
an attack on Calcutta, he is said to have replied, 'Look at yonder plain
covered with grass should you set fire to it there would be no stopping its
progress, and who is the man then who shall put out a fire that shall break
forth at sea and from thence come out upon land? Beware of lending an ear to
such proposals again, for they will produce nothing but evil.'

The truth is
probably that in the last years of his life, Ali Vardimodified
his views, and while quite aware ofthe
advantages of Europeans trading in his province, desired that they should
confine themselves to trading, and not
import their Western quarrels into Bengal and become too militaristic; and he
accordingly advised his successor to enforce this, knowing that Sirajwas going
to be less artful at keeping them in check than he, but he probably did not
intend it as an instantaneous call to arms.

Tempted by the vast wealth which rumour credited the
English of having accumulated, Siraj, the new Nawab
very soon found pretexts for quarrelling with the East India Company. They had
lately refused to give up a fugitive who took refuge in Calcutta, whom he accused of absconding with
revenue that had not been accounted for. The English had also quite stupidly
neglected to send the customary congratulations and present to the new ruler.
This gave rise to a suspicion that the English presumed to look with
disapproval upon Siraj’s elevation, and were disposed to favour some
of the other aspirant.

It so happened that
about this time the English were commencing to repair their fortifications at
Calcutta in expectation of a fight with the French;[3&91;
this news came to the ears of the Nawab
just as he was setting up a large army to thrashhis cousin and rival, the Raja of
Purnea.

He at once sent
orders that the repairs should be discontinued. English protests from Calcutta reached him in
Rajmehal. The Nawab was told that he
had been misinformed about the English building a wall round the town, that
they had not excavated any ditch[4&91;
since the invasion of the Marathas, at which time such a work was executed at
the request of the Indian inhabitants, and with the knowledge and approval of
Ali Vardi.They
added that in the last war between England and France, the French had taken
the English settlement atMadras-
contrary to the neutrality expected in the Mogul's dominions and that by
preparing a line of guns along the river they were readying themselves for a
similar act of Gallic aggression against Calcutta.One source states that the English offered to fill up the ditch
with the heads of Muslims!

Whatever the reply,
it was sufficiently irritating for him to put the Purnea expedition aside, and
direct his army to Murshidabad, sending forward a large detachment of 3,000 to
lay siege to the Company's modest fort at Kasimbazar, close to his capital.

Thisfort was
a shambles, and as much a threat to the Nabob's power and authority as a girls'
school. Orme notes that 'none of the cannon were above nine pounders, most were
honey-combed, many of the carriages decayed, and the ammunition did not exceed
600 charges.' The garrison consisted of22 Europeans, mostly Dutchmen, and 20 Topasses[5&91;
(Christian Indians, often with mixed Portuguese blood). The Company's chief
officer at Kasimbazar, Mr. Watts, 'surrounded by menaces', signed a
document of surrender (4th June).

The Nawab had ordered that all the
warehouses were to be sealed up and guarded, but instead his unruly troops
looted most of what they found. Their attentions were then drawn to the
prisoners, who they taunted to such an extent that the
chief of the small garrison, Ensign Elliot, shot himself through the head.

The easy and ample
success of this first act of hostility, put the Nawab in a triumphant and happy mood.There seemed to be nothing to prevent him from driving the
foreigners out of Calcutta and capturing and plundering their settlement, which
was thought to be the most opulent city in the Empire even though, for the
large part, it was nothing more than an assemblage of wretched huts, clustered
around a dilapidated fort with but
seventy houses occupied by Europeans.

Wishing to act with
haste and decisive force before they could proceed further with their defences
and before the season of the southwest monsoon was advanced enough to bring the
British assistance by sea, he set out for Calcutta by a series of forced
marches.Adding to their haste was the
fear of daily-expected rains that would have brought misery to the rank and
file, and greatly hampered progress.

The number of the
forces constituting his army have been estimated at around30,000 on foot, 20,000 horse, 400 trained
elephants, and 80 pieces of canon, some of them being light guns taken at Kasimbazar[6&91;.
About 20,000 of his troops were adequately armed with muskets, matchlocks, and wall pieces, the rest with lances, swords,
bows and arrows, etc. Fully 40,000 followers and bandits of all sorts are said
to have attended the army to take part in the plunder of Calcutta. So strong was the confidence in the
success of the expedition.

In seven days this
host covered the distance between Murshidabadand
Hugli. The immediate crossing of the river was effected from Chandernagorein an
immense fleet of boats assembled there for that purpose.In this endeavour to oust the British from
Bengal Sirajud Dowla
demanded submission, and assistance from the Frenchand Dutchestablishments thereabouts, they pleaded,
however, that theirs was merely a peaceful trading occupation, and appeased him with promises of money.[7&91;

Meanwhile, Calcutta waspreparing itselffor the approaching visitation. By the 1st of
June they knew that Kasimbazarwas
threatened, but not till the 7thdid authentic information reach them that it
had fallen without striking a blow, and that an immediate descent upon the
chief settlement had been proposed. 'When the Nawab’s intention of marching on Calcutta was known, it was felt
time,' candidly writes the Adjutant-General, 'to enquire into the state of
defence and the garrison, neglected for so many years, and the managers of it,
lulled in so infatuate a security, that every rupee expended in military
services was esteemed so much loss to the company.'

The Company's fort
at Calcutta was
built at the end of the 17th Century. When permission was obtained for
enclosing it, it was fortified, optimistically called a fort and named after William
III.This fortress, the object of Siraj's ire, had four bastions; the outer walls were
tough but barely four feet thick and were about 18 feet high. The walkways
behind the battlements, upon which the men stood,were merely the roofs of the chambers and
warehouses below. Worse still, large windows were in several places opened
through the walls for the ventilation of the rooms abutting them. There is no
surer proof of the peaceable nature of the British in Bengal
at this time than the condition of their principle stronghold.

This so-called fort was
unprotected by any encompassing ditch or moat, and was actually overlooked by
several nearby English houses. Other homes which lurked under its shadow, had
attached gardens enclosed in sturdy walls making them ideal cover and mustering
points for the attackers. Towering above the fort, and adjacent to it, stood Calcutta's church (built
in 1715). Finally, the whole of the defensive work had been allowed to fall
into such a state of bad repair, as to be quite unfit to resist any
well-organised attack. The walls and terraces were so shaky that it was not
thought prudent to allow cannon to sit upon them! The defensive fire was mainly
restricted to that from the bastions and gate. The defences proved the most
insubstantial on the south side, as there, for the purpose of providing
increased accommodation, some warehouses called 'the new go-downs' had been
built a few years before and were actually leaning against the south wall and
obstructed flanking fire from two of the
turrets. As small compensation, the roof of the new warehouse was made just
about strong enough to carry a battery of light guns.

The garrison consisted of only 180 largely untrained men,
only a third of whom were Europeans. They were under five officers; of these
Captain Buchananwas the
only one with campaign experience. To add to the fighting strength, the
European and Armenian inhabitants were enrolled as militia; most of these had never handled firearms
before. Indian employees of the Company were also enlisted in large numbers to
defend Calcutta
- and deserted at the earliest opportunity.

Ill adapted as the fort was for defence(it was in reality a lesser stronghold than
at Kasimbazar) it was still the best hope of holding out till
an escape could be effected by the river, and it was the only hope for
concentrating the garrison. The Europeans got to work demolishing as many of the
adjacent houses as possible. Unfortunately, the Fort was still pronounced
incapable of stopping a determined enemy by the many counsellors who had a
voice in the matter.

As for their modes
of defence, the Victorian historian, H. E. Busteedwrote:
'To meet the enemy in the principal streets and avenues, and at improvised
outposts; no better scheme of spreading out and wasting the untrained and
insufficient defending force could have been devised.' Holwell called
the preparations for defence, a 'tragedy
of errors... which were all in the wrong direction.' It is clear that Calcutta had little
understanding of the malignant deluge that was about burst upon it. One writer
(Hastings' MSS.) records, 'The military were very urgent
for demolishing all the houses, knowing that if once the enemy got possession
of the white houses, there would be no standing on the factory walls. However,
the pulling the houses was a thing they would not think of, not knowing whether
the Company would reimburse the money they cost.' A certain Captain Grantsays, on
the same subject:

It may be justly
asked, why we did not propose the only method, that as I thought then, and do
now, could give us the least chance of defending the place in case of a
vigorous attack - the demolition of all the houses adjacent to the Fort, and
surrounding it with a ditch? But so little credit was then given, and even to
the very last day, the Nawab would
venture to attack us or offer to force our lines, that it occasioned a general
grumbling and discontent to leave any of the European houses without them. ...And should it be proposed by any person
to demolish as many houses as should be necessary to make the fort defensible,
his opinion would have been thought pusillanimous and ridiculous.

'Entrenchments,'
notes a junior employee of the Company 'were begun to be thrown up across the
park, and a ravelin to defend the front gate of the factory, but [we&91; had no
time to finish them.' A large number of Indian peons occupied posts at an
important defensive work which went by the name of 'the Mahratta Ditch', but in no time at all these men went over to
the enemy - and with them the only
attempt to defend this important defensive work.

The Frenchand Dutchtreated
English requests for help, with considerable indifference. Of the former, an
indignant youngCivilian[8&91;writes:

We wrote... a very genteel
letter [to the French&91;, thanking them for their offer of assistance,
and as we were in very great want of
ammunition, requested they would spare us a quantity of powder and shot.When the Nawab was near Calcutta,
the Frenchmen put off their grimace, assuring us of the impossibility of
complying with our demand, as they might provoke the Nawab by it. However, when the Nawab
demanded supplies of powder from them soon after, they would then find
sufficient to give him 150 barrels, and could connive also at the desertion of
near 30 men, which joined the Nawab’s
army before the taking of Calcutta,
and commanded the artillery under Monsieur St. Jacque.

Captain Grant, the Adjutant-General, also mentions the
presence of Europeans with Siraj's army at Calcutta.
Grant says they learnt from prisonerstaken
whilst the attack was going on, that the enemy had with them '25 Europeans and
80 Chittygong Fringeys' [Literally, ‘foreigners from Chittagong’, now in
southern Bangladesh&91; under the command of one who styled himself Le
Marquis de St. Jacque, a French renegard
[sic&91;, for the management of their artillery.' The English however also had a
French lieutenant fighting on their side, a Monsieur
Le Beaume, who Grant says, 'was a Frenchofficer
and left Chandernagore[9&91;on a point of honour.' He fought bravely and
managed to escape the Black Hole.

Hostilities
commenced even before the enemy arrived. On the 13tha very suspicious letter was intercepted on
its way to Omichund, the settlement's wealthiest Indian resident.
He was immediately put under house arrest. His brother-in-law, Hazarimull, who had the chief management of his household
affairs, concealed himself in the ladies' quarters. A band of troops went in
after him but were resisted by three hundred of Omichund's loyal servants who
had armed themselves and put up a spirited and violent defence of the household
during the course of which the house caught fire. In the midst of this
insurrection, the chief servant entered into the women's quarters, and fearing
for the honour of his master's women, massacred thirteen of them, and then
stabbed himself - but was overpowered by British troops before he could
complete his suicide.

The advance guard
of Siraj's army did not bother to reconnoitre the city
nor did it gather intelligence, instead the eager troops charged like enraged
bulls towards the Maratha Ditch: an incomplete defensive work that they could
safely have walked around. The redoubt in this area was held by 20 Europeans
and Indian troops who gave the attackers a warm reception. Thirty more
Europeans and a few cannon sallied forth from Fort William to
reinforce the vastly outnumbered defensive line - who bravely held their ground
and kept up a steady fire, whilst four thousand of the enemy took up positions
in the thickets. At midnight the rattle of Indian musketry and the roar of
their cannon fell silent, for Siraj's army had settled down to an evening meal and
was making themselves comfortable for a night's sleep.

As the evening
dragged on, Ensign Prichard, who had previous experience in fighting Indians,
assured his incredulous colleagues that the enemy were asleep, he then led the
small force into the thickets, where they set about bludgeoning, bayoneting and
shooting their sleeping enemies, their chief target however being the canons
that had caused them so much grief during the day, which they seized and
disabled. The successful raiding party then withdrew, without a single
casualty.

One of Omichund's battered servants arrived into the enemy camp
and warned Sirajthat they
were attacking the city in the wrong
place. At last, finding that they could enter the city freely by walking around
the ditch, from which they had been so violently repulsed, they entered the
town through Dum Dum(now a
suburb of Calcutta) and on the morning of the 18th swarmed all around the town, plundering and
setting fire to every bazaar in their way and looting the city. At this point
another party sallied forth from the fort and evicted many of the marauders.
The English also set fire to as many bazaars as they could to deny shelter and
stores to the enemy:- 'when many of our people being detected plundering, they
were instantly punished with decapitation.' The party returned with prisoners who
after interrogation informed them of an
imminent an all-out attack on the redoubt, during which they would have been
assailed from both sides. Confronted with this dire news, Prichard and his bellicose troops were
withdrawn back into the fort.

John Zephaniah Holwell was of Irlsh extraction. He assumed the office of

Zamindar (tax collector and local judge) in 1752 and remained in the post

till 1756 His first visit to Calcutta was as a sergeant's mate of an East Indiaman

in 1732. In 1736 he was appointed as one of the aldermen of the Mayor's Court,

and in 1748 he returned to Europe. He prepared a plan for reforming abuses

in connection with the Zamindar's Cutchery (office) and submitted the same

to the Court of Directors, who were. so pleased with him that they made him

the permanent Zernindar of Calcutta and twelfth in the Council.

(Picture: Sir J. Reynolds)

On the 18th, the
English issued orders that no quarter was to be given, as the prisons were
already full, and naturally enough they understood that the enemy would
similarly retaliate. Most of the day's combat occurred at the outpost which
first received the enemy attacked from the east. The battery, opposite the
Mayor's Court, was partly held by a detachment of the militia commanded
by Holwell. It was in a very exposed position and doggedly
defended. So heavy was the fire on it from the points of vantage nearby, that
only the men necessary to work the guns were allowed to remain in it; the rest
got under cover within the Court House and had the grim task of taking over
from those who were gunned down.

The battery to the
north was also attacked, but here the enemy had few advantages and the
attackers found themselves advancing in close order up a narrow street. The
first volley from the English cannon was horrifically effective. Today we can
have little conception of the shocking carnage of an 18th Century battle: of the damage caused by a
solid cannon ball hurtling its way though ranks of tightly packed men, knocking
them over like skittles - a scene never adequately recreated in modern
cinematography.Men were literally pulverised
by the solid projectiles, brains, shards of wet bone and intestines were thrown
around like so much debris. The wounded, who were deposited in heaps, were
given nothing to alleviate the agonies of broken ribs, skulls and crushed
bones. This awful spectacle was too much to bear for the disorganised enemy,
who rather than press home the advance and overwhelm the enemy, immediately
took cover in the side streets, rendering ineffective the sacrifice of their
colleagues.

From these side
streets small groups would appear to
take pot shots at the English sheltered behind their sandbags and embrasures -
having satisfied themselves with this random fire, the enemy would then
furtively run for cover. The vexed English came up with the idea of taking the
canon to this concealed enemy. A group of men wheeling a field piece were then
detached to drive the enemy out of the alleyways: seeking what would nowadays
be called a 'target rich environment'. As they wheeled their gun around the
corner, Siraj's shocked troops were given another disastrous
dose of English lead - the enemy fled wildly from the detachment, who, elated
by their success, pursued them further into the winding alleyways, blasting any
place where the enemy chose to hide, and in doing so lost sight of the main battery.
Siraj's troops, taking advantage of this error,
returned through the narrow back streets to cut off their retreat - the English
turned their cannon upon them, and as the weapon blasted another wave of
destruction through their tightly packed ranks, yet again the enemy lost their
nerve and ran. The few that got close enough to the band of Englishmen to
engage with them, were shot with muskets or cut down with sword or bayonet. It
had been a close call for the foolhardy party, and they decided to return to
the safety of the fortified position before a more successful attempt to
apprehend them was organised.

Black Hole of Calcutta Memorial, photographed by the author in 2004

By now the Indian
troops in this area had been badly mauled, and decided to try their luck in the
fight against Holwell's eastern battery, which being in a more
exposed position was taking a severe hammering. At noon the attackers took time out for a lunch
break and pep talk. This again was a tactical error, as they could have rotated
their far superior forces to keep a constant pressure upon their adversaries,
who were in no position to gain themselves the luxury of a rest. Everything
remained quiet until two, the enemy then recommenced their fire upon the
eastern battery from a variety of adjacent houses. These enemy strong points
were pounded by the battery and also by cannon from the fort, but they were not
able to dislodge them - then the enemy rushed the battery from an unexpected
direction. Orme records:

About four o'clock
in the afternoon, a multitude of the enemy forced the palisade at the farther
end of the Rope Walk[10&91;,
although defended by a sergeant and twenty men; and rushed down the walk with
so much impetuosity towards the eastern battery, that the gunners had scarcely
time to turn one of the eighteen pounders against them; however, the first
discharge of grape shotchecked, and a
few more drove them to seek shelter in the covers at hand; but many of them
joined those who were in the houses from which the fire increased so much, that
at five o'clock, the military officer who commanded the battery, sent Mr.
Holwell, who acted as a lieutenant under him, to
represent to the governor the impossibility of maintaining this post any
longer, unless it was immediately reinforced with cannon and men, sufficient to
drive the enemy out of the houses: but before Mr. Holwellreturned,
Captain Claytonwas
preparing to retreat, having already spiked up two eighteen pounders and one of
the field pieces; and the whole detachment soon after marched into the fort
with the other. They were scarcely arrived before the enemy took possession of
the battery, and expressed their joy by excessive shouts.

The retreat into
the fort was messy and disorganised. Two fortified houses remained, both of
which had defended the flanks of the eastern battery, these were still held by
the English and in imminent danger of being cut off. In one of the houses, a
sergeant and twelve men fled to the southern battery before the enemy had
gathered in any significant numbers. The other house was occupied by alieutenant and nine of the militia, all of whom were young men in the mercantile
service, they were given no warning that the sergeant was about to leave his
post and seeing that the houses were being surrounded they endeavoured to also
get away. Forming into a compact body they came out firing. Most of them made
it, apart from two young men called Smith and Wilkenson. These were separated
from the rest, immediately intercepted and called upon to surrender. Smith
refused and is said to have cut down five men[11&91;
before surrendering, after which Wilkenson handed over his weapon, and was
immediately 'cut to pieces'.

In addition to the
regular garrison and militia, who with their families took to the safety of
the old fort, there were also about 3,000 'unnecessary people,' labelled as
'black Christians, Portuguese, slaves, &c.' Their presence
only added to the panic and chaos within. The Adjutant-General records:

Provisions had been
laid in, but proper persons had not been appointed to look after them; and the
general desertion of the black fellows, amongst whom were all the cooks, left
us to starve in the midst of plenty. All the men at the outposts had no
refreshments for 24 hours, which occasioned constant complaint and grumbling
all this night.We were so abandoned by
all sorts of labourers, that we could not get carried up on the ramparts cotton
bales and sand-bags for the parapets of the bastion, which were very low and
the embrasures so wide that they hardly afforded any shelter.

The Batteries had
been so much relied upon as the best defences of the settlement, that the
desertion of them on the very first day of the engagement created much
consternation and uproar, especially amongst the non-combatants, who expected
no quarter from the besieging enemy. Only twenty Lascars(Indian
Sailors) remained to man the cannon, and all of the
Company's Indian troops had deserted. The Armeniansand
Portuguese were said to have been 'stupefied with fear'. The situation was
going from bad to worse, as by now the enemy had repaired many of the captured
cannons and were turning them against the walls.

At this point all
order broke down and there followed acts of great cowardice and insane valour.
When the enemy started climbing upon the walls of the adjacent warehouse, the
governor ordered a roll of drums to signal the general alarm. The urgent signal
was repeated three times and ignored on every occasion.The enemy however was unnerved by the raucous
drumming and presuming that a tightly packed gang of redcoats would at any
moment open fire, with this in mind they decided to remove themselves from the
exposed roof and beat an unwarranted retreat.

Late in the evening
of the 18th,many of
the women and childrenwere put
aboard ships. Two members of the Council, both acting as officers of militia(Messrs.
Manningham and Frankland) embarked with the ladies, having volunteered
themselves for this duty. A young civilian wryly remarked: 'our colonel and
lieutenant-colonel of militia preferred entering the list among the number of
women rather then defend the Company's and their own property. Accordingly they
went offwith them, and though several
messages were sent them to attend council if they did not choose to fight,
still no persuasion could avail.'

The boats were
filled with everything that could be carried and in the mad scramble, several
of these vessels sank and many of those who were huddled on board were drowned
whilst some managed to swim to a far bank and were either taken prisoner or
simply massacred. As the escaping vessels breezed past, Siraj's troops fired flaming arrows at them in hope
of setting them ablaze.

In this hour of
trepidation, many of the English militia, seeing the vessels under sail became terrified
of losing their last chance of escape. The governor, who was utterly unversed
in military affairs, had up to this point shown no aversion in exposing himself
to danger. Earlier that morning he had braved bullets and arrows and visited
the ramparts asby daybreak the English
were firing with wall-pieces and small arms from every breach and corner. The
enemy, now appearing in immense swarms all round the fort,struckenormous fear into many, expecting that at any moment the place would be
overwhelmed by this bloodthirsty multitude, who despite having taken thousands
of casualties, showed no sign of giving up. A Captain by the name of Grantsaid that
the artillery from the fort during the early morning did 'terrible execution'
amongst the crowded enemy, but did not dampen the amount of incoming fire.

Sometime later an
alarm was raised, indicating that the enemy were at the gates. To his credit,
the governor was one of the first on the scene. He ordered two cannons to be
pointed at the gateway, but found nobody willing to obey him. Meanwhile the
enemy contented themselves with launching volleys of flaming arrows into the
fort - fortunately, most were too busy plundering the city to bother with the
object of their mission. Not long after this uninspiring episode, word came to
him that the remaining gunpowder was damp and out of service. Although he was
dismayed by this information, he refrained from divulging it- it was obviously the final straw. Two boats
remained at the wharf and he ran for them. Busteed notes: 'Soon occurred the
incident which obliges us to look back on some portion of the defence of Calcutta with
humiliation. As this is the first and only instance in the history of British
India, in which those bearing the names of Englishmen, and placed in a
conspicuous position in a time of war, set an example of cowardice, desertion
and inhumanity...' The Adjutant-General gives us a vivid account of the
stampede to the last boats and of the governor's flight:

Between 10 and 11 o'clock we were alarmed on the
ramparts by a report that the enemy were forcing their way at the barrier that
leads from the Company's house to the wharf, but when I came down I found it to
be false. On my return to take the back gate, I observed the Governor standing
on the stair head of the Ghaut; I came up to him to know if he had any
commands, but found him only beckoning to his servant... seeing the boats set
off and not another then at the Ghaut, except a budgerow [Indian river boat&91;
which Mr. Macket and Captain Minchin were going aboard of, he called to me that
he found everyone were providing for their own security, and without making me
time to answer, ran up alongshore to
the ponsay [long boat&91; where his servant was aboard. I first thought he only
wanted to speak to the his servant to secure a boat, but seeing him step in it
somewhat of a hurry I followed, and before I came into the boat desired to know
what he was about. On his making answer that he was going on board the ships, I
earnestly entreated that he would first acquaint the garrison of his design. He
represented the impossibility of making a regular retreat on many accounts, and
said when they saw him retreat such as could possibly find boats would follow.
Looking behind, I perceived Mr. Macket and Captain Minchinsetting
off, and the stairs full of Europeans pressing to do the same. I considered the
retreat to be general, and that everyone who could lay hold of a conveyance
would choose to escape falling into the hands of a merciless enemy, and so,
with Mr. O’Hara, thought it justifiable to follow the Governor in a state of
such apparent confusion and disorder, though greatly grieved to see how many of
my friends and countrymen were likely to fall a sacrifice for want of boats, as
I believe there was not another at the Ghaut when the Governor came away. We
got on board the Dodalay, where Messrs. Frankland and Manningham were with most of
the women. I then represented to the Governor the cruelty of abandoning so many
gentlemen to the mercy of such an enemy, and requested he would order the ships
and sloops to move up before the Fort, by which means we should be able to send
the boats under their cover to bring off our distressed friends.'

Black Hole of Calcutta memorial, in 2004 (picture taken by the author)

Upon the Governor going off, several muskets
were fired at him, but as the junior civilian lamented: none were lucky enough
hit. Grose in his Voyage to the East
Indies stated that Drake pleaded that he was a Quaker and as a man of
peace, needed to hurry away from a scene of bloodshed. John Cooke, a 'Bengal
civilian', gave an enlightening account in evidence he gave before a
Parliamentary Committee:

Signals were now
thrown out from every part of the Fort for the ships to come again to their
station, in hopes they would have reflected (after the first impulse of their
panic was over) how cruel, as well as shameful, it was to leave their
countrymen to the mercy of a barbarous enemy; and for that reason we made no
doubt they would have attempted to cover the retreat of those left behind now
they had secured their own; but we deceive ourselves, and was never a single
effort made in the two days the Fort held out after their desertion to send a
boat or vessel to bring off any part of the garrison. All the 19ththe enemy pushed on
their attack with great vigour, and having possessed themselves of the church,
not thirty or forty yards from the east curtain of the Fort, they galled the
garrison in a terrible manner, and killed and wounded a prodigious number. In
order to prevent this havoc as much as possible, we got up a quantity of
broadcloth in bales with which we made traverses along the curtains and
bastions; we fixed up likewise some bales of cotton against the parapets (which
were very thin and of brick only) to resist the cannon balls, and did
everything in our power to baffle their attempt and hold out, if possible, till
the Prince George (a company's ship
employed in the country) could drop down low enough to give us an opportunity
of getting on board... The enemy suspended their attack as usual when it grew
dark; but the night was not less dreadful on that account. The Company's house
and the marine yard were now in flames, and exhibited a spectacle of
unspeakable terror. We were surrounded on all sides by the Nawab’s forces which
made a retreat by land impracticable; and we had not even the shadow of a
prospect to effect a retreat by water after the Prince George
ran aground. On the first appearance of dawn on the 20thJune, the besiegers renewed their cannonading-
they pushed the siege this morning with much more warmth and vigour than ever
they had done...

There was another
vessel aside from thePrince Georgethat could have rendered
assistance, the aforementioned Dodalay. Captain Young, the vessel's commander said afterwards, he
did not attempt a rescue because it was too dangerous! The civilian's
manuscript adds that this vessel would not even give a cable and anchor to
those stranded on the Prince George
so they could get off the stricken ship. Supporting this refusal on the grounds
that bad weather was at hand and all the gear would have been needed for
herself. Holwellbitterly
comments:

A single sloop or
boat sent up on the night of the 19thmight have hailed us from the bastions without
risk, even if the place had been in possession of the enemy, the contrary of
which they would have been ascertained of, and the fleet might have moved up
that night. This motion would have put fresh spirits into us and given dismay
to the enemy already not a little disheartened by the numbers slain in the day
when dislodged from the houses round us. Had the ships moved up, and our forces
reunited and part of the ammunition on board them been disembarked for the
service of the Fort, the Suba might at least have been obliged to retreat with
his army, or at the most, the effects might have been shipped off on the 20theven in the face of
the enemy, without their having power to obstruct it and a general retreat made
of the whole garrison, as glorious to ourselves, all circumstances considered,
as the victory would have been.

By noon of the 20th,more than half the Europeans left after
desertion were either killed or wounded, owing mainly to an attempt by the
enemy to scale the northern wall under the support of heavy musketry fire. All
were dog-tired, and many of the lower ranks, numbed the growing terror by
getting drunk. Some exposed themselves with great resolution
to the enemy fire whilst others put pressure on Holwellto make
overtures to the enemy for a cessation of hostilities. At first he was opposed
to this, considering it rather futile; however, for the sake of his men, he had
Omichundwrite a
letter to two of the Suba's generals,
explaining that the defence of the fort persisted only to preserve life and
honour.

For over two hours
(after the attack on the northern wall was beaten off) the enemy disappeared,
but at approximately 4 p.m. Holwellwas
informed that a man was advancing with a flag, and calling for a cease fire -
offering quarter in case of surrender. The English responded by hoisting a flag
of truce. Shortly afterwards, taking advantage of the lull in musketry:
'multitudes of the enemy came out of their hiding-places round us, and flocked
under the walls.'

Holwelltook to
the battlements to parley with the enemy, one of Siraj's officers called out that the Suba was there, and that he wished for
the Union Jack to be lowered and for the fort to surrender. Before a reply had
left Holwell's lips, a shot rang out and Mr. Baillie, who
was standing next to him, fell wounded, which was followed by a general rush on
the eastern gate.

Holwell, brought a cannon to bear on the gate, upon
which the enemy withdrew and the flag of truce was taken down. Holwellthen
ordered a 'general discharge of our cannon and small arms: 'a desperate call to
arms which was not eagerly taken up. At this moment word came to Holwellfrom
Ensign Walcot that the western gate had been forced open by their own people in
an act of betrayal. One account has it that some of the defenders had made an
attempt to escape during the brief truce,'under cover of prodigious thick smoke.'

Holwellrushed to
where Captain Buchananwas in
charge, and found the enemy's colours already planted there. 'I asked him how
he could suffer it; he replied he found further resistance was in vain.' All
around him Siraj's men were scaling the walls with bamboo
ladders - the game was up.

The Indian troops
refrained from slaughtering the Europeans. Busteed correctly notes: 'This
unexpected forbearance should be remembered to the credit of the enemy, to whom
'no quarter' had been given, and from whom the defenders acknowledge they could
not hope for any. The enemy began looting instead of killing, stripping the
gentlemen of their buckles, watches, money and gold. Holwellhanded
over his pistols to the first native officer whom he saw coming towards him,
and was told to instantly order the British colours to be cut down. This was
one request that he refused to grant - saying that, as masters of the Fort,
they might order it themselves. He was then requested to hand over his sword,
but again refused to do so, unless in the presence of the Suba. To formally effect this surrender Holwellwas led
along the ramparts to be presented before Siraj. Holwellrespectfully greeted him from the rampart, and
then delivered his sword. Holwellhad three
subsequent interviews with him that evening. Says Holwell:

He expressed much
resentment at our presumption in defending the fort against his army with so
few men, asked why I did not run away with my governor, &c., &c., and
seemed much disappointed and dissatisfied with the sum found in the treasury;
asked me many questions on this subject, and on the conclusion he assured me on
the word of a soldier that no harm should come to me, which he repeated more
than once.

In some brief
histories of the Raj, Calcutta
is described as having fallen easily. This is probably largely the fault of the
eminent 19thCentury
historianMacaulaywho stated that 'the Fort was taken after a
feeble resistance,' a statement that is true enough when referring to the
regular garrison but ignores the latter stages of the struggle maintained
predominantly by the militia.

Some early British
writers may be accused of aggrandisement and for obvious reasons. It is
therefore proper to quote a contemporary Muslimwriter,
Gholam Hussien, who pays tribute to Holwelland his
fellow-defenders:

Mr. Drake finding
that matters went hard with him, abandoned everything, and fled without so much
as giving notice to his countrymen. He took shelter on board of a ship, and
with a small number of friends and principal persons he disappeared at once.
Those that remained, finding themselves abandoned by their chief, concluded
their case must be desperate; yet most of them were impressed with such a sense
of honour, that, preferring death to life, they fought it out till their powder
and ball falling at last, they bravely drank up the bitter cup of death; some
others, seized by the claws of destiny, were made prisoners.

The victory was not
accompanied by universal acclaim in Bengal.
The region's Hindus, who had been much troubled by Siraj's lunacy and often laboured under a
discriminatory regime, had hoped that Sirajwould
ruin himself in his fight against the English and many were profoundly
disappointed by Calcutta's
fall, which they undoubtedly feared would add to the tyrant's arrogance and
vanity. After his victory the Hindus ire
turned against the 'incompetent' Europeans. One Frenchobserver wrote: 'The country people here about
call the Europeans Banchots,[12&91;
ie., cowards and poltroons.'

As an indication as
to how high Indian bodies piled up around Fort William: after the battle, Holwell, (in his first report on the matter written to
the BombayGovernment in July from Murshidabad) says: 'of the enemy we killed first and last,
by their own confession, 5,000 of their troops and 80 Jamedars and officers of
consequence, exclusive of their wounded.' Even if this is only half true, or
even if it has been inflated by three or four times - it is still a damning indictment of the
leadership, a military ignoramus and non-entity such as Sirajud Dowla
who could so incompetently lead eager and well-motivated troops into such a
disproportionate slaughter.

At this juncture we
come to the infamous Black Hole incident. I do not wish to take the reader down
a well trodden path and simply tell my own version of the story, this I believe
would contribute little to an overall understanding of the subject matter. I
have therefore endeavoured to reprint most of Holwell's original testament regarding his sufferings
in the Black Hole taken from Interesting
Historical Events Relative to the Province of Bengal and the Empire of Indostan.
(2 Parts, 1765 & 1767 ).

I think the modern
reader will find Holwell's account to be exceptionally clear in its
grammar and literary style - despite being almost 250 years old. The veracity
of this gruesome narrative has become a highly contentious issue - as most
'politically correct' historians call Holwella liar.
Without doubt, they feel uncomfortable about Indians being portrayed as
aggressors and perpetrators of atrocity, in short, the entire episode as told
by Holwelldeeply
upsets well established and appealing stereotypical notions of Indians being
the sole victims ofatrocity. Moreover,
to accept that the Black Hole incident did happen as per Holwell's account, concedes that the British forces
under Sir Robert Cliveanother
adequate excuse to fight Siraj. This is why the document remains, to this day,
a real hot potato and this may explain why it is so rarely reproduced. It is
sometimes erroneously stated that Holwellgives us
the only account of the incident. This is not correct; it is not even the most
important testament!

Secretary Cookealso
survived the Black Hole, he became member of Council and afterwards - in England - gave
evidence before the Parliamentary Committee of 1772, to which we are to believe
he perjured himself, if we pay heed to the view of certain 20thCentury historians.
The sole female survivor, Mrs. Carey, was also informally interviewed regarding her
experiences, during which she also confirmed Holwell’s account of the incident.[13&91;
Critics of Holwell's story claim that he fabricated the story to
aggrandise himself (something that we shall scrutinise more carefully later)
yet they do not and can not explain why Cookewould
have put himself in legal jeopardy to confirm Holwell's ‘fictitious’ account. If the basis of history
is testimony, then I must contend that the entire tragedy is well accredited.

We enter into
Holwell's discourse when he and approximately 146
others are about to be thrust into the dungeon by Indian troops who had just
taken over Calcutta:

They ordered us all to rise and go into the
barracks to the left of the court guard. The barracks, you may remember, have a
wooden platform for the soldiers to sleep on, and are open to the west by
arches and a small parapet wall, corresponding to the arches of the veranda
without. In we went most readily, and were pleasing ourselves with the prospect
of passing a comfortable night on the platform, little dreaming of the infernal
apartment in reserve for us. For we were no sooner all within the barracks,
than the guard advanced to the inner arches of the parapet-wall; and, with
their muskets presented, ordered us to go into the room at the southernmost end
of the barracks, commonly called the Black-Hole prison; whilst others from the
Court of Guard, with clubs drawn and scimitars, pressed upon those of us next
to them. This stroke was so sudden, so unexpected, and the throng and pressure
so great upon us next the door of the Black-Hole prison, there was no resisting
it; but like one agitated wave impelling another, we were obliged to give way
and enter; the rest followed like a torrent, few amongst us, the soldiers
excepted, having the least idea of the dimensions or nature of a place we had
never seen: for if we had, we should at all events have rushed upon the guard,
and been, as the lesser evil, by our own choice cut to pieces.

Amongst the first
that entered, were myself, Messrs. Baillie, Jenks, Cooke, T. Coles, Ensign Scot, Revely, Law, Buchanan, &c. I got possession of the window nearest
the door, and took Messrs. Coles and Scot into the window with me, they being
both wounded (the first I believe mortally). The rest of the above mentioned
gentlemen were close round me. It was now about eight o'clock.

Figure to yourself,
my friend, if possible, the situation of a hundred and forty six wretches,
exhausted by continual fatigue and action, thus crammed together in a cube of
about eighteen feet, in a close sultry night, in Bengal, shut up to the
eastward and southward (the only quarters from whence air could reach us) by
dead walls, and by a wall and door to the north, open only to the westward by
two windows, strongly barred with iron, from which we could receive scarce any
the least circulation of fresh air.

What must ensue, appeared
to me in lively and dreadful colours, the instant I cast my eyes around, and
saw the size and situation of the room. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to
force the door; for having nothing more than our hands to work with, and the
door opening inward, all endeavours were vain and fruitless.

Conjectural View of the 'Black Hole,' with
part of barrack, as seen from Interior of Verandahby S. de Wilde (Thacker, Spink & Co. Calcutta).

Observing every one
giving way to the violence of passions, which I foresaw must be fatal to them,
I requested silence might be preserved, whilst I spoke to them and in the most
pathetic and moving terms which occurred, I begged and intreated, that as they
had paid a ready obedience to me in the day, they would now for their own
sakes, and the sakes of those who were dear to them, and were interested in the
preservation of their lives, regard the advice I had to give them. I assured
them, the return of day would give us air and liberty; urged to them, that the
only chance we had left for sustaining this misfortune, and surviving the
night, was preserving a calm mind and quiet resignation to our fate; entreating
them to curb, as much as possible, every agitation of mind and body, as raving
and giving loose to their passions could answer no purpose, but that of
hastening their destruction.

This produced a short interval of peace, and
gave me a few minutes for reflection: though even this pause was not a little
disturbed by the cries and groans of the many wounded, and more particularly of
my two companions in the window. Death, attended with the most cruel train of
circumstances, I plainly perceived must prove our inevitable destiny. I had
seen this common migration in too many shapes, and accustomed myself to think on
the subject with too much propriety to be alarmed at the prospect, and indeed
felt much more for my wretched companions than myself.

Amongst the guards
posted at the windows, I observed an old Jemmautadaar near me, who seemed to
carry some compassion for us in his countenance; and indeed he was the only one
of the many in his station, who discovered the least trace of humanity. I
called him to me, and in the most persuasive terms I was capable, urged him to
commiserate the sufferings he was a witness to, and pressed him to endeavour to
get us separated, half in one place, and half in another; and that he should in
the morning receive a thousand Rupees for this act of tenderness. He promised
he would attempt it, and withdrew; but in a few minutes returned, and told me
it was impossible. I then thought I had been deficient in my offer, and
promised him two thousand. He withdrew a second time, but returned soon, and
(with I believe much real pity and concern) told me, it was not practicable;
that it could not be done but by the Suba's order, and that no one dared awake
him.

During this
interval, though their passions were less violent, their uneasiness increased.
We had been but few minutes confined, before every one fell into a perspiration
so profuse, you can form no idea of it. This consequently brought a raging
thirst, which still increased, in proportion as the body was drained of
moisture.

Various expedients
were thought of to give the room more air. To obtain the former, it was moved
to put off their clothes. This was approved as a happy motion, and in a few
minutes I believe every man was stripped (myself, Mr. Court, and the two wounded gentlemen
by me excepted). For a little time they flattered themselves with having gained
a mighty advantage; every hat was put in motion, to produce a circulation of
air; and Mr. Baillie proposed that every man should sit down on his hams. As
they were truly in the situation of drowning wretches, no wonder they caught at
every thing that bore a flattering appearance of saving them. This expedient
was several times put in practice, and at each time many of the poor creatures,
whose natural strength was less than others, or had been more exhausted, and
could not immediately recover their legs, as others did, when the word was
given to RISE, fell to rise no more; for they were instantly trod to death, or
suffocated. When the whole body sat down, they were so
closely wedged together, that they were obliged to use many efforts, before
they could put themselves in motion to get up again.

Exterior view of the building
which contained the Black Hole of Calcutta - as it would have appeared in 1756.

Before nine O’clock every man's thirst grew
intolerable, and respiration difficult. Our situation was much more wretched
than that of so many miserable animals in an exhausted receiver; no circulation
of fresh air sufficient to continue life, nor yet enough divested of its
vivifying particles to put a speedy period to it.

Efforts were again
made to force the door, but in vain. Many insults were used to the guard, to
provoke them to fire in upon us (which as I learned afterwards, were carried to
much greater lengths, when I was no more sensible of what was transacted). For
my own part, I hitherto felt little pain or uneasiness, but what resulted from
my anxiety for the sufferings of those within. By keeping my face between two
of the bars, I obtained air enough to give my lungs easy play, though my
perspiration was excessive, and thirst commencing. At this period, so strong an
urinous volatile effluvia came from the prison, that I was not able to turn my
head that way, for more than a few seconds at a time.

Now every body,
excepting those situated in and near the windows, began to grow outrageous, and
many delirious: Water, Water, became the general cry. And the old Jemmautadaar,
before mentioned, taking pity on us, ordered the people to bring some skins of
water, little dreaming, I believe, of its fatal effects, This is what I
dreaded. I foresaw it would prove the ruin of the small chance left us, and
essayed many times to speak to him privately to forbid its being brought; but
the clamour was so loud, it became impossible. The water appeared. Words cannot
paint to you the universal agitation and raving the sight of it threw us into.
I had flattered myself that some, by preserving an equal temper of mind, might
outlive the night; but now the reflection which gave me the greatest pain, was,
that I saw no possibility of one escaping to tell the dismal tale.

Until the water
came, I had myself not suffered much from thirst, which instantly grew
excessive. We had no means of conveying it into the prison, but by hats forced
through the bars; and thus myself and Messrs. Coles and Scot (notwithstanding
the pains they suffered from their wounds) supplied them as fast as possible.
But those, who had experienced intense thirst, or are acquainted with the cause
and nature of this appetite, will be sufficiently sensible it could receive no
more than a momentary alleviation; but the cause still subsisted. Though we
brought full hats within the bars, there ensued such violent struggles, and
frequent contests, to get at it, that before it reached the lips of anyone,
there would be scarcely a small tea-cup full left in them. These supplies, like
sprinkling water on fire, only served to feed and raise the flame.

Oh! My dear Sir,
how shall I give you a conception of what I felt at the cries and ravings of
those in the remoter parts of the prison, who could not entertain a probable
hope of obtaining a drop, yet could not
divest themselves of expectation, however unavailing! And others calling on me
by tender considerations of friendship and affection, and who knew they were
really dear to me. Think, if possible, what my heart must have suffered at
seeing and hearing their distress, without having it in my power to relieve
them; for the confusion now became general and horrid. Several quitted the
other window (the only chance they had for life) to force their way to the water,
and the throng and press upon the window was beyond bearing; many forced their
passage from the further part of the room, pressed down those in their way, who
had less strength, and trampled them to death.

Can it gain belief,
that this scene of misery proved entertainment to the brutal wretches without?
But so it was; and they took care to keep us supplied with water, that they
might have the satisfaction of seeing us fight for it, as they phrased it, and
held up lights to the bars, that they might lose no part of the inhuman
diversion.

From about nine to
near eleven, I sustained this cruel scene and painful situation, still
supplying them with water, though my legs were almost broke with the weight
against them. By this time I myself was very near pressed to death, and my two
companions, with Mr. William Parker, (who forced himself into the window) were
really so.

For a great while
they preserved a respect and regard to me, more than indeed I could well
expect, our circumstances considered; but now all distinction was lost. My
friend Ballie, Messrs. Jenks, Ravely, Law, Buchanan, Simson, and several
others, for whom I had no real esteem or affection, had for some time been dead
at my feet, and were now trampled upon by every corporal and common soldier,
who, by the help of more robust constitutions, had forced their way to the
window, and held fast by the bars over me, till at last I became so pressed and
wedged up, I was deprived of all motion.

Determined now to
give everything up, I called to them, and begged, as the last instance of their
regard, they would remove the pressure upon me, and permit me to retire out of
the window, to die in quiet. They gave way; and with much difficulty I forced
passage into the centre of the prison, where the throng was less by the many
dead, (then I believe amounting to one third) and the numbers who flocked to
the windows; for by this time they had water also at the other window.

In the Black-Hole
there is a platform[14&91;
corresponding with that in the barracks: I travelled over the dead, and
repaired to the further end of it, just opposite the other window, and seated
myself on the platform between Mr. Dumbleton and Capt. Stevenson, the former
just then expiring. I was still happy in the same calmness of mind I had
preserved the whole time; death I expected as unavoidable, and only lamented
its slow approach, though the moment I quitted the window, my breathing grew
short and painful.

Here my poor friend
Mr. Edward Eyre came staggering over the dead to me, and with his usual
coolness and good-nature, asked me how I did? But fell and expiredbefore I had time to make him a reply. I laid
myself down on some of the dead behind me , on the platform; and recommending
myself to heaven, had the comfort of thinking my sufferings could have no long
duration.

My thirst grew now
insupportable, and difficulty of breathing much increased; and I had not
remained in this situation, I believe, ten minutes, when I was seized with a
pain in my breast, and palpitation of my heart, both to the most exquisite
degree. These roused me and obliged me to get up again; but still the pain,
palpitation, thirst, and difficulties of breathing increased. I retained my
senses notwithstanding, and the grief to see death not so near me as I hoped;
but could no longer bear the pains I suffered without attempting a relief,
which I knew fresh air would and could only give me; and by an effort of double
the strength I ever before possessed, gained the third rank of it, with one hand
seized a bar, and by that means gained the second, though I think there were at
least six or seven ranks between me and the window.

In a few moments my
pain, palpitation, and difficulty of breathing ceased; but my thirst continued
intolerable. I called aloud for 'WATER FOR GOD'S SAKE:' I had been concluded
dead; but as soon as they heard me amongst them, they had still respect and
tenderness for me, to cry out, 'GIVE HIM WATER, GIVE HIM WATER!' nor would one
of them at the window attempt to touch it until I had drank. But from the water
I found no relief; my thirst was rather increased by it; so I determined to
drink no more, but patiently wait the event; and kept my mouth moist from time
to time by sucking the perspiration out of my shirt-sleeves, and catching the
drops as they fell, like heavy rainfrom my
head and face: you can hardly imagine how unhappy I was if any of them escaped
my mouth.

I came into prison
without coat or waistcoat; the season was too hot to bear the former, and the
latter tempted the avarice of one of the guards, who robbed me of it when we
were under the veranda. Whilst I was at this second window, I was observed by
one of my miserable companions on the right of me, in the expedient of allaying
my thirst by sucking my shirt-sleeve. He took the hint, and robbed me from time
to time of a considerable amount of my store; though after I detected him, I
had ever the address to begin on that sleeve first, when I thought my
reservoirs were sufficiently replenished; and our mouths and noses often met in
contest. This plunderer, I found afterwards, was a worthy young gentleman in
the service, Mr. Lushington, one of the few who escaped from death, and since
paid me the compliment of assuring me, he believed he owed his life to the many
comfortable draughts he had from my sleeves. I mention this incident, as I
think nothing can give you a more lively idea of the melancholy fate and
distress we were reduced to. Before I hit upon this happy expedient, I had, in
an ungovernable fit of thirst, attempted drinking my urine; but it was intensely bitter there was no
enduring a second taste, whereas no Bristol
water could be more soft or pleasant than what arose from perspiration.

By half an hour
past eleven the much greater number of those living were in an outrageous
delirium, and the others quite ungovernable; few retaining any calmness, but
the ranks next to the windows. By what I had felt myself, I was fully sensible
what those within suffered; but had only pity to bestow upon them, not then
thinking how soon I should myself become a greater object of it.

They now found,
that water, instead of relieving, rather heightened their uneasiness, and,
'AIR, AIR,'was the general cry. Every
insult that could be devised against the guard, all the opprobrious names and
abuse that the Suba, Monickchund[15&91;,
&c. could be loaded with, were repeated to provoke the guard to fire upon
us, every man that could, rushing tumultuously towards the windows with eager
hopes of meeting the first shot. Then a general prayer to heaven, to hasten the
approach of the flames to the right and left of us, and put a period to our
misery. But these failing, they whose strength and spirits were quite
exhausted, laid themselves down and expired quietly upon their fellows: others
who had yet some strength and vigour left, made a last effort for the windows,
and several succeeded by leaping and scrambling over the backs and heads of
those in the first ranks; and got hold of the bars, from which there was no
removing them. Many to the right and left sunk with the violent pressure, and
were soon suffocated; for now a stream arose from the living and the dead,
which affected us in all its circumstances, as if we were forcibly held with
our heads over a bowl full of strong volatile spirit of hartshorn, until
suffocated; nor could the effluvia of the one be distinguished from the other,
and frequently, when I was forced by the load upon my head and shoulders, to
hold my face down, I was obliged, near as I was to the window, instantly to
raise it again to escape suffocation.

I need not, my dear
friend, ask your commiseration, when I tell you that in this plight, from half
an hour past eleven till near two in the morning, I sustained the weight of a
heavy man with his knees in my back and the pressure of his whole body on my
head. A Dutchsergeant,
who had taken a seat upon my shoulder, and a Topaz[16&91;
bearing on my right; all which nothing could have enabled me long to support,
but the props and pressure equally sustaining me all around. The two latter I
frequently dislodged, by shifting my hold on the bars, and driving my knuckles
into their ribs; but my friend above stuck fast, and as he held by two bars,
was immovable.

When I had bore this
conflict above an hour, with a train of wretched reflections, and seeing no
glimpse of hope on which to found a prospect of relief, my spirits, resolution,
and every sentiment of religion gave way, I found I was unable much longer to
support this trial, and could not bear the dreadful thoughts of retiring into
the inner part of the prison, where I had before suffered so much. Some
infernal spirit, taking the advantage of this period, brought to my remembrance
my having a small clasp penknife in my pocket, with which I determined
instantly to open my arteries, and finish a system no longer to be borne. I had
got it out, when heaven interposed, and restored me to fresh spirits and
resolution, with an abhorrence of the act of cowardice I was just going to commit:
I exerted anew my strength and fortitude; but repeated trials and efforts I
made to dislodge the insufferable encumbrances upon me at last quite exhausted
me, and towards two O’clock, finding I must quit the window, or sink where I
was, I resolved on the former, having bore truly for the sake of others,
infinitely more fore life than the best of it is worth.

In the rank close
behind me was an officer of one of the ships, whose name was Carey, who had
behaved with much bravery during the siege, (his wife, a fine woman though
country-born, would not quit him, but accompanied him into the prison, and was
one who survived). This poor wretch had been long raving for water and air; I
told him I was determined to give up life, and recommended his gaining my
station. On my quitting, he made a fruitless attempt to get my place; but the
Dutchsergeant
who sat on my shoulder supplanted him.

Poor Carey
expressed his thankfulness, and said, he would give up life too; but it was
with the utmost labour weforced our way
from the window, (several in the inner ranks appearing to be dead standing.)[17&91;
He laid himself down to die: and his death, I believe, was great, and I
imagine, had not retired with me, I should never have been able to have forced my
way.

I was at this time,
sensible of no pain and little uneasiness: I can give you no better idea of my
situation than by repeating my simile of the bowl of spirit of hartshorn. I
found a stupor coming on apace, and laid myself down by that gallant old man,
the reverend Mr. Jervas Bellamy, who lay dead with his son the lieutenant, hand
in hand, near the southernmost wall of the prison.

When I had lain
there some little time, I still had reflection enough to suffer some uneasiness
in the thought, that I should be trampled upon, when dead, as I myself had done
to others. With some difficulty I raised myself, and gained the platform a
second time, where I presently lost all sensation: the last trace of
sensibility that I have been able to recollect after his lying down, was my
sash being uneasy about my waste, which I untied and threw from me.

Of what passed in
this interval to the time of his resurrection from this hole of horrors, I can
give you no account; and indeed, the particulars mentioned by some of the
gentlemen who survived, (solely by the number of those dead, by which they
gained a freer accession of air, and approach to the windows) were so
excessively absurd and contradictory, as to convince me, very few of them retained
their senses; or at least, lost them soon after they came into the open air, by
the fever they carried out with them.

In my own escape
from absolute death the hand of heaven was manifestly exerted: the manner takes
as follows. When the day broke, and the gentlemen found that no entreaties
could prevail to get the door opened, it occurred to one of them, (I think to
Mr. Secretary Cooke) to make a search for me, in hopes I might have
influence enough to gain a release from this scene of misery. Accordingly
Messrs. Lushington and Walcot undertook the search, and by my shirt discovered
me under the dead upon the platform. They took me from thence; and imagining I
had some signs of life, brought me towards the window I had first possession
of.

But as life was
equally dear to every man, (and the stench arising from the dead bodies was
grown intolerable) no one would give up his station in or near the window: so
they were obliged to carry me back again. But soon after Captain Mills[18&91;
(then captain of the company’s yacht) who was in possession of a seat in the
window, had the humanity to offer to resign it. I was again brought by the same
gentlemen, and placed in the window.

At this juncture
the Suba, who had received an account of the havoc death had made amongst us,
sent one of his Jemmautdaars to inquire if the chief survived. They showed me
to him; and told him Holwellhad
appearance of life remaining, and believed he might recover if the door was
opened very soon. This answer being returned to the Suba, an order came
immediately for their release, it being near six in the morning.

The fresh air in
the window soon brought me to life; and a few minutes after the departure of
the Jammautdaar, I was restored to my sight and senses. But oh! Sir, what words
shall I adopt to tell you the whole that my soul suffered at reviewing the
dreadful destruction around me? I will not attempt it; and indeed tears (a
tribute I believe I shall ever pay to the remembrance to this scene, and to the
memory of those brave and valuable men) stop my pen.

The little strength
remaining amongst the most robust who survived, made it a difficult task to
remove the dead piled up against the door; so that I believe it was more than
twenty minutes before they obtained a passage out for one at a time.

I had soon reason
to be convinced that the particular inquiry made after me did not result from
any dictate of favour, humanity, or contrition; when I came out, I found myself
in a high putrid fever, and not being able to stand, threw myself on the wet
grass without the Veranda, when a message was brought me, signifying I must
immediately attend the Suba. Not being capable of walking, they were obliged to
support me under each arm; and on the way, one of the Jammautdaars told me, as
a friend, to make full confession where the treasure was buried in the fort, or
that in half an hour I should be shot from the mouth of a cannon[19&91;.
The intimation gave me no manner of concern; for, at that juncture, I would
have esteemed death the greatest favour the tyrant could have bestowed upon me.

Being brought into
his presence, he soon observed the wretched plight Iwas in, and ordered a large folio volume,
which lay on a heap of plunder, to be brought for me to sit on. I endeavoured
two or three times to speak, but my tongue was dry and without motion. He
ordered me water. As soon as I got speech, I began to recount the dismal
catastrophe of my miserable companions. But I was stopped short, with telling
me, that he was well informed of great treasure being buried or secreted in the
fort, and that I was privy to it; and if I expected favour, must discover it.

I urged everything
I could to convince the Suba there was no truth in the information; for that if
any such thing had been done, it was without my knowledge. He reminded me of
his repeated assurance to me, the day before; but he resumed the subject of the
treasure, and all I could say seemed to gain no credit with him. I was ordered
prisoner under Mhir Muddon, General of the Household Troops.

Amongst the guards which carried me from the Suba, one bore
a large Moratter battle-axe, which gave rise he imagined, to Mr. Secretary
Cooke’s belief and report to the fleet, that he (Mr
Cooke) saw him carried out with the edge of the axe
towards me, to have my head struck off. This I believed is the only account you
will have of me, until I bring you a better one myself. But to resume the
subject: He was ordered to the camp of Mhir Muddon’s quarters within the
outward ditch, something short ofOmychund’s garden (which is above three miles from the fort) and with
him Messieurs Court, Walcot, and Burdet. The rest, who survived the fatal
night, gained their liberty except Mrs. Carey, who was too young and handsome. The dead
bodies were promiscuously thrown into the ditch of their unfinished ravelin,
and covered with the earth.

The site of the Black Hole as
it appeared about one hundred years ago. An approximate area of the room seems
to have been cordoned off with railings: a quaint touch with great tourist
potential, yet a subtlety that is completely lost on West
Bengal’s authorities who even demolished William Makepeace
Thackeray’s birthplace to build an ugly block of flats (1973). The site is now
merely part of a sidewalk although the plaque can still be seen (B & L T Co.).

Holwellwas then
transferred out of Calcutta
as a prisoner and taken to Bengal's erstwhile
capital:

We were conveyed in
a Hackery[20&91;
to the camp the 21stof June, in the morning,
and soon loaded with fetters, and stowed all four in a seypoy’s tent, about
four feet long, three wide, and about three high; so that they were half in,
half out : All night it rained severely. Dismal as this was, it appeared a
paradise compared with their lodging the previous night. Here I became covered
from head to foot with large painful boils, the first symptom of my recovery;
for until these appeared, my fever did not leave me.

On the morning of
the 22nd,
they marched us to town in their fetters, under the scorching beam of an
intense hot sun, and lodged us at the Dock-head in the open small Veranda,
fronting the river, where they had a strong guard over us, commanded by Bundo
Singh Hazary, an officer under Mhir Muddon. Here the other gentlemen broke out
likewise in boils all over their bodies (a happy circumstance, which, as I
afterwards learned, attended every one who came out of the Black Hole.)

In short (Sir), though our distresses in this
situation, covered with tormenting boils, and loaded with irons, will be
thought, and doubtless were, very deplorable; yet the grateful consideration of
our being so providentially a remnant of the saved, made everything else appear
light to us. Their rice and water-diet, designed as a grievance to us, was
certainly our preservation: for, could we (circumstanced as we were) have
indulged in flesh and wine, we would have died beyond all doubt.

Some days later the despondent and hollow-eyed prisonersarrived
in Murshidabad('Muxadabad') and virtually lived from
handouts delivered to them by sympathetic Dutchmen and Frenchmen.[21&91;
In his letter Holwelllaments:

This march I will
freely confess to you, drew tears of disdain and anguish of hear from me; thus
to be led like a felon, a spectacle to theinhabitants of this populous city ! My soul could not support itself
with any degree of patience; the pain too arising from my boils, and
inflammation of my leg, added not a little, I believe, to the depression of my
spirits.

Here we had a guard
of Moors, [Muslims&91; placed on one side of us, and a guard of
Gentoos [Hindus&91; on the other; and being destined to remain in this place of
purgatory, until the Suba returned to the city, I can give you no idea of our
sufferings. The immense crowd of spectators, who came from all quarters of the
city to satisfy their curiosity, so blocked us up from morning till night, that
I may truly say we narrowly escaped a second suffocation, the weather proving
exceedingly sultry.

The first night
after our arrival in the stable, I was attacked by a fever; and that night and
the next day, the inflammation of my leg and thigh greatly increased: but all
terminated the second night in a regular fit of the gout in my right-foot and
ankle; the first and last fit of this kind I ever had. How my irons agreed with
this new visitor I leave you to judge; for I could not by any entreaty obtain
liberty for so much as that poor leg.

As the vengeful
English closed in on Siraj, Holwelland his
companions were in time handed back to their compatriots, whereupon he wrote
the above letter, of which the majority has been quoted.

---

How little were the strange issues of these
dismal events foreseen. Intrepid Britons soon came with Admiral Watson and
Colonel Clivefrom Madras, to
the succour of those of their countrymen, who had escaped destruction. Victory
attended the little army whithersoever it advanced, and before the anniversary
of the unhappy siege came round, Calcutta had been triumphantly re-taken, the
battle of Plassey had been won, and the throne of the Nawab was occupied by a
partisan of the English. By those who had been his own creatures, the fugitive
tyrant was put to death, while the British obtained that firm footing and that
arm of power in Bengal, which speedily led to their acknowledged supremacy
there. In short, the foundations had been laid of that great Indian empire,
whose growth has been as marvellous as its beginning.

(Carey)

---

Fact or Fiction?

In 1915, J. H.
Little wrote an article entitled, 'The Black Hole - The Question of Holwell's Veracity,'in which he outlined some alleged flaws in Holwell's story. He claimed that Holwellwas an
unreliable witness and stated that the incident was either fictitious or had
been exaggerated. This concept gained much appeal amongst leftists and Indian
nationalists who seized upon the idea that Holwell, the British hero, could have been a
manipulative villain. As journalists often say - a story too good to check!

Over the last fifty years the debate has degenerated yet further, with
many old inaccuracies and half truths being regurgitated and quoted as
incontrovertible facts. So why such frantic and often extremely inept attempts
to discredit Holwell's story?

The problem is that the Black Hole incident was another fair excuse for
Sir Robert Cliveto attack
Bengal. To ascribe fairness to Clive's rampage is an extremely discomforting concept
- yet an inescapable one based on the available evidence. It is therefore more
befitting to our emotional needs to imagine that the incident never occurred
andcreate a conspiracy theory based on
nothing in particular and a strong desire for Holwell's account not to be true.

It remains highly
fashionable amongst modern Indian historians and certain English writers to
doubt the Black Hole of Calcutta story, and some versions emanating from modern
India
seem to be extremely biased. For example in the millennium issue of the popular
Indian periodical The Week, under a
heading The holes in Holwell's tale, we read: 'Strange as it may seem, the infamous
Black Hole tragedy has been narrated in detail by only one of the 23 who -
though as subhuman wretches - had the fortune to greet the next dawn... A few of
them later averred that Holwell's account was true, and some gave varying
figures; others remained silent.'This
is quite ridiculous and a common example of Indian populist misrepresentation.
Who remained quiet? Of course they do not say. Holwelllisted
but eleven European survivors. The Europeans did not all have the opportunity
to put their statements into print, but this does not mean they remained
silent! They might have spent the rest of their lives discussing it with all
who would listen. One hundred private letters might have been written
recounting the horrid events to friends and kinsmen, nothing having survived
the deluge of time - none of this we can ever know for sure, butit would be foolish to imagine that there
existed a conspiracy of silence. 'Strange it may seem' to a 21stCentury Indian journalist, (accustomed to a
fairly literate nationwithmillions of websites, hundreds ofmagazines and dozens of TV channels) that
only three accounts were recorded, but for the highly illiterate India of 1756
without a single newspaper - and Calcutta without a single printing press -
three accounts, one extremely detailed and another sworn before the highest
authorities of England is an exceptionally good documentary record.

In November 2002 I
was mousing around on the web when I came across a well presented Indian
website called Manas. When referring
to the Black Hole, its tone and content is quite typical. Part of its
commentary runs as follows:

This story was
recounted by the survivor John Zephaniah Holwell, and soon became the basis for representing
Indians as a base, cowardly, and despotic people. Innumerable journalistic and
historical works recounted the story of the "Black Hole" of Calcutta, but Holwell's account was the sole contemporary narrative.
... It may even be possible to argue that the episode of the "Black
Hole" never transpired. Though for the British it became an article of
faith to accept the veracity of the episode in its most extravagant and sordid
form, all accounts relied, without stating so, upon the sole authority of the
contemporary narrative of Holwell.

Here we have a number of errors. Firstly, Holwell's testimony did not stand alone: in some ways it was not even the most important
testimony! As far as Holwell's story being the basis for racial slurs, I
have not come across a single instance of the tragedy being used to style the
entire Indian race as 'base, cowardly, and despotic' or words to that effect.
As for it being 'possible to argue that it never happened', I would dearly love
to know how!

It is not my intention to attack the proprietors of the Manas website, who on other matters seem
most fair and even-handed, indeed the above misinformation was probably
obtained by them from another tainted source; yet it is nevertheless a clear and common example of what passes for
historical comment amongst many Indian writers.The underlying motivation behind the story's detractors, is Indian
national pride. As commendable as this may seem, it should not be an open
license to distort history.

As already stated, to accept the Black Hole incident is to accept the
Sir Robert Clivehad
further cause for his aggressive behaviour in Bengal,
over and above the recapture of Calcutta.
This poses too many awkward questions for certain Indian historians who
instinctively react by discounting the story, citing the most inconsequential
reasons to back their prognosis and then passing off their conclusions as
unarguable fact.

In our more enlightened century it is evident that there is no prestige
or justice in an undemocratic, racist and exploitative empire: which sums up
the erstwhile British Raj, however it is completely unforgivable to manipulate
history in order to satisfy these, our 21stCentury sentiments. It would be extremely
comfortable for us to portray Sirajas a freedom
fighter and Cliveas a
fascist on the rampage: this is both kind to Indian sentiments and is a
comfortably simplistic concept, easy for everybody to identify and deal with -
unfortunately 18thCentury Bengal did not
always aspire to our modern conceptions and ideals. We know that Sirajwas an
evil deranged megalomaniac, who went on a killing spree as soon as he took
control of Bengal, targeting both his
compatriots and foreigners. Clive, a talented and charismatic leader,probably thought he was doing Bengal a
genuine favour by backing Mir Jafar's bid for power, with of course a few
benefits thrown in for the East India Company[22&91;,
whose commercial interests Clivehad to
represent. As for Siraj, instead of being scorned for his appalling
personality and for embroiling Bengal in an
ill-timed, ill-managed, unprovoked and unnecessary war with Great Britain
(which had disastrous consequences for all India) he is instead hailed as a
national hero. This same fuzzy logic also clouds the contemporary Indian view
of the Black Hole affair.

The objectionsto Holwell's story seems to be as follows:

1.Holwelland certain soldiers amongst them had known of
the dimensions of the room into which they were going to be placed. So, why did
they not resist?

i.) Holwellwas one
of the first into the room. His account clearly states that he was pushed
forward by the crowd who were being aggressively herded inside at gunpoint. He
did indeed comment that had they
known the internal dimensions of the room, 'we should at all events have rushed
upon the guard, and been, as the lesser evil, by our own choice cut to pieces.'
The crucial word here is 'we', which implied the crowd as a whole. The great
majority of the people were civilians or militiaand in
total ignorance of the size of the cell, which served as a military lock-up.
These militia or non-combatants were, in all likelihood, the ones that surged
forward in order to get away from the surly looking troops advancing upon them.
This pushed Holwelland his
associates into the room.

Throughout history
tens of millions of ordinary people have been herded to their certain deaths at
gunpoint, without any resistance - it is a common phenomenon. Millions of Jewswere
murdered in World War II with quite meagre opposition, considering the scale of
the tragedy.[23&91;
There exists sad footage of groups of Jewish men actually running to line up along the edge of pits to be gunned down.

Why should these
exhausted and disarmed Europeans of the 18thCentury have acted any differently from
Europeans of the 20thCentury,who were likewise packed into crowded gas
chambers? Human psychology is a strange thing. History is littered with
instances where a determined crowd could have escaped certain death by simply
rushing their guards or instantaneously fleeing as a single body - yet rarely
has it happened. Without weapons or organisation and under armed authority,
demoralised groups of people have always been easily slaughtered.

2.There are certain doubts about
Holwell's good
character, as Clivein a letter dated January 1757, stated,
'Nothing but the want of a boat prevented [Holwell's&91;
escape and flight with the rest.' He was a self-serving and unscrupulous
individual whose statements must be treated with caution.

ii.) It is strange how some Indian writers have produced
Sir Robert Clive, their great bugbear, as a character
reference!!! Sir Robert Clivewas
notorious for his mood swings and not everything he uttered can be taken at
face value. Many would like to claim that Holwellwas a
cowardly individual, but the evidence is very much to the contrary as we often
read independent accounts of him being in the thick of the action during the
siege. Holwellis
sometimes depicted as a man with a political and racial grudge against Indians,
which prompted him to lie and exaggerate in his account of the Black Hole -
however all the evidence is very much to the contrary.

Holwelloften
proved to be fair minded and honourable. For example, on the 2ndJune 1760, 'in interests of
justice and mercy' he brought before the Council in Calcutta the following case of flogging,
during which he is quoted as saying:

'Mr Barton [the
accused&91;, laying in wait seized Benautrom Chattojee opposite to the door of
Council, and with the assistance of his bearers and two peons, tied his hands
and feet, swung him upon a bamboo like a hog, carried him to his own house,
there with his own hands beat him in the most cruel manner, almost to the
deprivation of his life, endeavoured to force beef into his mouth, to the
irreparable loss of his Brahman’s caste; and all this without giving ear to, or
suffering the man to speak in his own defence to him.'[24&91;

The above statement
clearly shows muchsympathy with the
sufferings of the aggrieved servant, and the very fact that he brought the
matter before Calcutta's
highest governing body speaks volumes about the man's true character and
attitude towards Indians.

John Zephaniah
Holwellwas the
first Englishman to promote the idea of Hinduism as a religion and a
nationality, and of it being rich in philosophy and of as much value asAnglicanism. These published thoughts were
quite revolutionary as the religion had previously been described by Europeans
largely in scathing terms: it had formerly been a 'detestable religion' with
'mad and foppish rites and ceremonies' with 'wicked sacrifices and impious
costumes'.[25&91;
Holwell, in the most eloquent and learned detail,
challenged such attitudes and published his researches in: Interesting Historical Events, relating to the Provinces of Bengal and the Empire of
Indostan. . . As also
the Mythology and Cosmogony, Fasts and Festivals of the Gentoos, followers of
the Shastah, and a Dissertation on the Metempsychosis, commonly, though
erroneously, called the Pythagorean doctrine, in which Englishmen were
asked not to apply their own rigorous standards to the Indians, and rather to
let the Indians be guided by their own inspiration and genius. I conclude that
Holwellwas a
rather enlightened character for his times and not the type of individual to
spin a complicated web of lies for petty gain.

3.Raymond,
a chronicler of late 18thCentury Bengal, wrote
'Not a word here of those English shut up in the Black Hole…. This much is
certain, that this event… is not known in Bengal;
and even in Calcutta
it is ignored by every man.'

iii.) After such an heinous experience it is a wonder that
any of the survivors staid in India
at all! In the years after the event, the white inhabitants of Calcutta were either newcomers or returnees
who had lived with the subsequent shame of having left their countrymen to such
an horrendous fate.

It is also worth
considering that even by 18thCentury
standards, India was a land starved of news and information - prior to the
incident andfor many years afterwards
(as already stated) the country did not possess a single newspaper nor were
there any books being printed in Calcutta.If Raymond's comments are to
be believed, it comes as no surprise that the facts were not generally known.

In Holwell's list ofBlack Hole survivors, he gives the names of only eleven Europeans,
including Mrs. Carey. Of these Richard Court, was afterwards nominated
to Council for 'behaving very well' - but did not have much time to enjoy this
promotion or produce any interesting memoir as he died in 1758. His house was
purchased by the Government in that year. Another survivor on the list, Ensign
Walcot, died soon after he was released at Murshidabad- which
left only nine Europeans to tell the tale. Of these we have three recorded
affirmations of the story, one informally related, another formally related and
a third published. In other words, a third of the European survivors recorded
their stories each in their own way, which is probably as good as can be
expected.

Orme, a very
learned contemporary historian researched the incident probably as early as the
late 1750's, the first volume of his epic work being printed before Holwell's narrative was published. Orme does not give
his sources but from the superb detail of his descriptions it is evident that
he gathered first hand accounts of what were quite recent events. He
categorically confirms the Black Hole story, but slight and pardonable
differences in his appraisal clearly relates to the fact that Holwellwas not his source. Nevertheless, we have no
end of historians today who, a quarter of a millennium after the event, claim
to be wiser than scholarly Orme.

Despite this dearth of witnesses, there is
much evidence to suggest that the affair was
being spoken of within living memory of the incident. In 1768, whilst residing
in Calcutta, Mrs. Nathaniel Kindersleywrote: 'About the middle of
the town, on the river's edge, stands the old fort, memorable for the
catastrophe of the Black Hole, so much talked of in England; it was in one of
the apartments in it that the wretched sufferers were confined.' Rear Admiral
JohnS. Stavorinus[26&91;,
during his sojourn in the area between 1768 and 1771 noted: 'Near the tank, is
a stone monument, erected in memory of thirty English prisoners, both men and women, who, when Calcutta was taken by the nabob
Surajah Dowlah, were shut up in a narrow prison, without any refreshment, and
suffocated for want of fresh air.'[27&91;
Again, in the mid 1770's, Philip D. Stanhope[28&91;
or 'Asiaticus', writes: '...the Black Hole, rendered famous by the deaths of
our unfortunate countrymen, when the Nabob Surajah Dowlah took Calcutta by storm. An English lady[29&91;,
who saw her husband perish at her feet, survived that miserable catastrophe,
and the tyrant was so captivated with her beauty, that he promoted her to the
honour of his bed, and she remained seven years in his seraglio, when she was
released, at the request of Governor Vansittart, and is now alive at Calcutta.'
Far from being unknown in Bengal, the event
seems to have been the talk of the town for decades!

The incident was also mentioned by the artist
William Hodges[30&91;,
who visited the city in the 1780's - but by the end of this decade the story as
told in the city seems to have become quite distorted and exaggerated. Grandpre, a Frenchofficer, who wrote A Voyage to the Indian Ocean and to Bengal, undertaken in 1789-90, when alluding to the
taking of Calcutta,
says:

The conqueror, when
he got possession of the Fort at Calcutta,
had the prisonerswhich he
took there thrust one upon another into a hole outside the Fort, form which
those only were fortunate enough to come out alive who happened to be uppermost
in the heap. The rest were suffocated. In remembrance of so flagrant an act of
barbarity, the English, who were conquerors in their turn, erected a monument
between the old Fort and the right wing of the building occupied by the civil
officers of the Company on the very spot where the deed was committed.

In 1888, H. E.
Busteed, comments upon this remark: 'It may be presumed
that this writer merely related the gossip which he gathered in Calcutta
itself, only thirty-four years after the event which he does so erroneously
describes.'

4.There were varying figures
mentioned for fatalities in the Black Hole, therefore we are to believe that
the entire story must be called into question.

iv.)It must be
remembered that the room was jam packed and only partially illuminated. Busteed
(Echoes from Old Calcutta, 1888) sums
up the possible confusion as follows:

The retreats by the
boats was such a hurried and disorganised one, that it is very unlikely that
every woman and child but one was got off. Holwelland Cookemight
easily have been mistaken considering that the thrusting into the prison
occurred in the dark, and that in the morning they were very unfit for any
observation, even were time and opportunity for it afforded, which was not the
case, as the dead were immediately thrown promiscuously into the ditch of the
unfinished ravelin and covered with earth.

At the time,
estimates of how many people were in the hole varied from 146 to 170. Estimates
of the fatalities range from 123 to 128. In terms of percentages, the
differences in the numbers are petty and can easily be explained. An exact
figure for casualties would have been far stranger under these chaotic
circumstances! As any experienced police officer knows, identical statements
from separate witnesses are usually a sign that a story has been cooked up.

The second Black Hole Memorial
as it appeared in the early 20thCentury -since removed (Raphael Tuck
& Sons Ltd).

5.The
room could not have accommodated 150 people.

v.)Regarding the observation that 'the room was too
small for 150 people', this is indeed absolutely correct, and therein lies the
reason why so many died! The dimensions of the prison room are roughly given by
Orme as 'not twenty feet square'. Holwellcalls it
a cube of about eighteen feet; but Cooke[31&91;
particularises a little more, and says it was about eighteen feet long and
fourteen feet wide. If we use Holwell's estimate as an average, and base it on his
estimate of 146 individuals then deduce that some ten percent were under the
bench or lying over the heads and shoulders of others in an attempt to get to
the window (whereby they would not have taken standing room) we find that each
one of the inmates had almost 2.5 square feet to stand in, but even if all had
been standing, and even if there had been 150 in the room, the issue can be
settled as follows:

Black
Hole of Calcutta:
548.64 cm. x 548.64 cm. (Holwell's
estimate)

Adult Human. Floor Space: 54.5 cm. X 36.5 cm.

5 4 8
. 6 4 c m. ( 1 8f t)x5 4 8 . 6 4 c m. ( 1 8f t)

Qty = 150

6.Accounts differ as to how many
women were involved, this also removes credibility from the story.

vi.)This is false. Nobody ever said there was only
one woman present and nobody gave any form of estimate as to the number of
female victims. Holwelland most
others state that there was a woman present called Mary Carey but Holwellcertainly
does not say in so many words that only 'one' woman went into the prison. Nor
does Cookesay that
there was only one woman. A Capt. James Mills talked of 'women' being present.
A letter written by Thomas Boileu, in 1799 stated that Mary had been with her
mother, and her sister and that there were a few other wives of soldiers in the
room. In effect, accounts do not differ at all, as no witness contradicted any
other witness.

7.No more
than 43 of the garrison at FortWilliamwere unaccounted for after the evacuation;
therefore, at most 43 Europeans died in the Black Hole. Jadunath Sarkar in the
History of Bengal Vol. II, also writes: 'after evacuation and stealthy walking
away already described by authentic records and admitted by Hill, 146
Britishers could not have been left…'

vii.)As to
the debate whether there would have been 146 Europeans, it must be remembered
that the above comment only refers to the garrison and not the militia, but more importantly Holwelldoes not
claim that all the 146 incarcerated within the cell were Europeans! It is worth
repeating that Rear Admiral JohnS.
Stavorinus, during his sojourn in the area between 1768
and 1771 noted: 'Near the tank, is a stone monument, erected in memory of
thirty English prisoners, both men and women, who, when Calcutta was
taken by the nabob Surajah Dowlah, were shut up in a narrow prison, without any
refreshment, and suffocated for want of fresh air'. He was there in the decade
proceeding the tragedy and as a distinguished visitor he probably had this
information narrated to him by good authority.

Dozens
of able-bodied Europeans must have remained on the walls fighting a rearguard
action whilst the last boats were being boarded, as by the time the last ships
left, the fort was still being held,[32&91;
other likely stalwarts were Eurasians or 'black Christians' who we are informed did remain in the fort.
The fact that this criticism is so regularly repeated is indicative of the
appalling bias and amateurish research of many critics. This error occurs as
early as the 1790's, when Wilcocke, commenting on Rear Admiral John S.
Stavorinus's brief mention of the episode, says:

The reader need
scarcely be informed, that this mutilated account relates to the well-known
tragic event, at the reduction of Calcutta,
of the suffocation of 123, out of 146 English prisoners[33&91;,
in the black hole prison. The scene of this horrid transaction has become
proverbial among Englishmen for a place of insufferable torment, and together
with the Inhuman tyrant, Surajah Dowlah, by whose order our countrymen were
devoted to this cruel death.. The monument, which was erected by Mr. Holwell, one of the few survivors, and whose narrative
of his sufferings is in every body's hands, is a handsome obelisk, about fifty
feet high, inscribed with the names of the persons who died in the black-hole,
and whose bodies were promiscuously thrown, the next morning, into the ditch of
the fort.

Wilcocke had no
right to sneer at the admiral's account, as he was probably a lot nearer the
truth than he was given credit for. For propaganda purposes, dramatic effect or
through sheer ignorance, the victims were stated as all being English. This
misunderstanding has more-or-less continued unchecked for the last 200 years.
Unsympathetic modern researchers, some with their own agendas, have picked up
on these early misrepresentations and used them as a means of debunking the
original accounts when in fact such statements had nothing to do with the
all-important contemporary descriptions.

A common
misapprehension sometimes arises with the term 'Portuguese' which was universally used in 18th Century Bengal in reference to Eurasians. Indeed, a full-blooded
Indian who had converted to Catholicism and found himself in the service of the
British, would have been labelled as Portuguese! Holwellhimself
mentions a 'Topaz' (Indian convert) bearing upon his right shoulder who he
forcefully dislodged - he never refers to the crowd collectively as 'Europeans'
or 'compatriots' but simply calls them 'wretches'. He also mentions another
Eurasian, Mrs. Carey: 'a country born woman'. This lady claimed that
some of her blood-relatives went into the Black Hole with her.

The first monument
gives around 50 European names and describes the others as 'sundry other
inhabitants, military and militia' - In my dictionary the word 'sundry' is
defined as: 'oddments, accessories, items not needed to be specified - all and sundry, everyone [Old English&91;.'
This strongly suggests that some reference is being made to Eurasians - indeed,
it is most logical that light skinned Eurasian Christiansin
European attire, Armeniansand other
'collaborators' would have been thrown in with their European associates: in
fact, we know they were.

8.Holwellhad
ordered the gate to be opened before he fired on the Bengalis. This caused them
to massacre the English. He then exaggerated the Black Hole to get himself off
the hook.

Viii). No such event took place. There had been a
spontaneous exchange of fire from both sides during a peace parley and a gate
had been opened by certain individuals who had tried to flee at the end of the
siege. Holwell's main condition during these brief
discussions, was that their lives should be spared, which brings into question
why the English should have then purposefully enraged the enemy in such a
manner.

By all accounts,
Holwell's actions had been heroic and exemplary. He had
nothing to cover up. If he had
personally enragedSirajand the
Black Hole was the retribution, it would have been in Holwell's interests to down-play theevents of that terrible night rather than to
have exaggerated them.

9.The Black Hole of Calcutta soon became the principal
justification for British rule in India and it was politically
expedient for other witnesses and the state to support Holwell's
story.

Viv.) The Black Hole of Calcutta was never the principal
justification for British rule in India! I have not read a single 18thCentury document or
memoir that makes such a claim. InThoughts
on Improving the Government of the British Territorial Possessions in the East
Indies (Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1780) the Black Hole incident
is not even mentioned. In the 18thCentury, foreign territory was annexed and
governed through 'right of conquest'. In this age of empires of absolute
monarchs and of slavery, no excuses were required to exert authority over
defeated peoples - especially 'black heathens'.

Sirajhad
attacked Calcutta,
he had instigated a conflict which he had lost and the prize to the victors was
Bengal. Politically speaking, the Black Hole
incident was to some benefit but it was never too important. It was a tiny
side-show, a mere footnote. By the early 19thCentury, the original monument was in a sorry
state of disrepair and the Black Hole itself had been demolished - so much for
political significance!

10.Cookelied to help his friend Holwell, who
he had even once stood bale for. He had financially benefited from the conquest
of Bengal and it was within his interests to
uphold the 'myth'.

X.) Can we really believe that Cookewould
have taken the very grave and serious step of lying to a Select Committee to
simply avoid hurting the feelings of a friend? The fact that Cookehad made
money out of British administration in Bengal
is a Red Herring, as he did not have to prove the Black Hole incident to
justify his fortune. The mere fact that he had not fled with the departing
ships and had stood his ground on the walls during the siege was sufficient to
uphold his reputation, he did not need the additional gloss (or humiliation)
ofthe Black Hole.

11. Muslimhistorians make no mention of the incident,
though they were critical of Siraj.

XI.) The final point is, to my mind the only criticism that
really holds water - yet this particular well of inspiration is a tad dry. Why
did Muslimhistorians not mention the incident? We can
speculate that writings have been lost, perhaps the truth was not widely known
- what is for certain is that the aforementioned historians say nothing about
European prisonersbeing
well cared for nor do they say that all were safely accounted for the following
day after the capture. In short, they neither contradict nor confirm the story.

In this desperate
clamour to find fault, many have asked why the British did not simply run away.
The curt answer is simply that the captives would not have been too inclined to
escape as there was simply nowhere to run to. The British were very conspicuous
in their appearance, it was one thing for the Company's Indian servants to
abscond under such circumstances, but quite another for a European to attempt
to do likewise. As the area was full of ill disciplined and vengeful Indian
troops, it is likely that many thought themselves safer in captivity and under
guard. We may recall that some individuals who tried to escape from sinking
ships, were butchered on the riverbank. Orme records that a quantity men did
try to run away immediately after the fort was taken, but this was only
partially successful.[34&91;

It must be
remembered that Cooke's testimony was a very serious business, made
before parliament: a sworn statement making him liable to criminal prosecution
if he had been proved a liar. This in itself must be regarded as very strong
proof. Testimony is the basis of history and there are no contradictory
testimonies as regards this particular story. I am also puzzled about what
possible motive Cookewould
have had to concoct a story together with Holwell, to the extent where he would carry the lie
before parliament! It simply does not make sense. As far as Mrs. Careyis concerned,
we are supposed to believe that she lied about the deaths of her family when
she attested to the veracity of Holwell's account - a very severe and psychotic thing
for her to have done, if, as her critics maintain, her words were spoken simply
to uphold the fantasies of a deceased Englishman who had been dismissed from
the Company's service and had left the city some decades before!

What really stands
out about Holwell's account is its very intensity. On a
subjective level, his description is so emotionally charged and full of such
unexpected observations that it is hard to dismiss as a work of fiction. The
conspiracy theory holds that the event was grossly exaggerated, it being a
useful political expedient for the British. Nevertheless, at that particular
time, Cliveand his
associates had no need of the incident: British interests in Bengal
had been attacked without provocation, Sirajhad
opened the hostilities and the Company felt completely free to retaliate as
they saw fit - with or without the horrors of the Black Hole.

Holwell's extensive list of the dead also brings forth
the question; if they did not die in the Black Hole, where or how did these
people die? He did not pull the names from thin air. The dead once belonged to
a small European community. Most of the deceased had left grieving friends and
relatives behind in India.
In most cases, whatever the circumstances of their deaths, there would have
been other living witnesses to their passing. It would have been impossible for
Holwellto spin a
web of lies in such a small and tight-nit European community and get away with
it.

Far from being a bulwark
for his for success, the incident was swept under the carpet and Holwellfound
himself sacked after he wrote a strongly worded letter. The 'Honourable
Company' in December 1760replied:

We do positively
order and direct that immediately upon the receipt of this letter, all those
persons still remaining in the Company's service who signed the said letter of
the 29thDecember,
viz., Messrs. J. Z. Holwell, &c. &c., be dismissed from the
company's service; and you are to take care that they are not to be permitted
on any consideration to continue in India, but that they are to be sent to
England by the first ships that return home the same season you receive this
letter.

Before this letter
reached India,
Holwellhad
already resigned. He returned to England and in later years, far from being
dismissive and racist towards Indians, he wrote the aforementioned
authoritative texts about Hinduism that were greatly praised evenby such a giant as Voltaire.[35&91;Yet some degree of misfortune dogged him still; as
on the 21stJanuary, 1763 his 102 year old
mother was accidentally burned alive in her bed. He himself lived until he was
87. He died at Pinner, near Harrow, on the 5thNovember 1798.

At this juncture,
we must consider a lamentable publication written in the 1970’s, by a Ms. Iris
Macfarlane: an ill conceived book (in my humble opinion) entitled, The Black Hole or The Making of a Legend.In some opening remarks she states: 'The black
hole does not matter, it is believing it that matters.' I believe that the slow
and agonising death of over one hundred people does matter. They were real people; the siege was a real event.
They were unarmed, they had surrendered and had been promised quarter - to be
succinct, they deserved better. Whether any such horror happened in 1756, 1856
or 1956 is of no consequence, the human suffering is the same, they merit at
least a modicum of respect, just as Indian victims of certain British
atrocities deserve respect – in short, yes, the Black Hole matters, believing
it is a side issue: a quaint luxury left to those who have never experienced
atrocity.

Later, she
establishes the groundwork for our so-called delusion: ' …this willingness to
be duped, is based on fear and guilt.' Iris then goes into great poetic detail
describing the innermost nature of such post-colonial 'fear and guilt',
likening it to a mother and child. She does not specify whether all nations that once had an empire are
subject to this emotionally disabling complex, or whether it is a peculiarly
British affliction.

Ms. Macfarlane
refers to the cell being 'pitch-dark' as if by doing so she were blowing a
major hole in the long established story, claiming that he could have observed
nothing or very little. Holwellcould
have known exactly what was going on in such a small and dark room full of
people, as all conversations could have quite easily been heard, and thus an
indication of passing events could have been attained. Yet this is perhaps
besides the point, as the cell was not 'pitch-dark' anyway. Even a small child
knows that within a completely dark room, a mere candle will softly illuminate
a surprisingly large area. In the case of the Black Hole such subtle light
would have come in through the windows. Holwelltells us
that surrounding buildings were on fire[36&91;and outside, hundreds of soldiers
gathered with lighted torches, more importantly he describes how their
tormentors held up lanterns to the bars in order to sneer at the chaos and
torment within – here are the light sources!

Her inept assault
on the story continues unabated. She seems to express scornful surprise that
Holwellwas able
to consult his watch and record hours and half-hours. This he certainly would
have done as they were informed that they were being imprisoned 'for the night'
and that the Nawab would be consulted
about their dire situation when he awoke – dawn would have therefor been eagerly
awaited and the passing of the hours would have been a point of anxious
interest.

Some of her
criticisms are (in my opinion) embarrassingly inane, and she is apparently
grasping at any straws to confirm a preconceived conclusion. For example, she
questions why Holwellwas not
thrown against the opposite wall of the cell if he was the first one in and
there were so many people pushing from behind, and asks how he was able to
reach the window on the side wall. Obviously she never attended a popular
football match or an eagerly attended rock concert to see the doors fly open
and the crowd push forward! If a mass of people try to push through a small
door at the same time, the first to enter will fan out. Ms. Macfarlane is of
the opinion that the victims should have imitated a gang of cartoon characters,
heading into the room in a single compact column and hitting the far wall like
a battering ram!

This is not the end
of her razor sharp commentary, for she then raises acidic little queries: 'An
attempt was made to force the door open, though how in the scrum he did not
say.' Here she brings to light an important point, for indeed, all they had
available were their bare palms and fists. To beat a strong door down with
these, would have been vain and fruitless. This is probably why Holwellwrote:
'Many unsuccessful attempts were made to force the door; for having nothing
more than our hands to work with, and the door opening inward, all endeavours
were vain and fruitless.'

Our intrepid
historian continues unabated: '..they disrobed, all except for their hats, for
these were soon being used to pass water through the windows (how exactly,
since the window was barred he did not say)'. Holwelldoes
state that they were 'forced through the bars.'The hats in question were without doubt three-cornered cloth caps, not
steel helmets and could have easily been slightly bent in the middle ('forced')
so as to be passed through the bars, or the hats could have been tilted
slightly and inserted through the gaps, retaining some of the liquid therein -
or is that too simple?

Alas, it continues:
'During that time he tried to drink his urine(out of
his hat, or shoes? He did not say).' At this point she begins to lose the plot
completely. It also becomes evident that a woman has written this criticism,
being unfamiliar with the male urinary wonder that is the penis. He would not
have had the room to drink his urine from a hat, nor like champagne from a
slipper - this goes without saying! Logic dictates that he would have simply
urinated into his cupped hand and raised the bitter liquid to his mouth. To
crown this painfully lame commentary she asks why he had not used his small
knife against the guards. Well, for one thing, to have done so would have been
completely suicidal. Was he to defeat the entire army with his 'small clasp
penknife'? (She did not say). Based on such crass and churlish criticisms she
then refers to Holwell's testimony as being 'patently a parcel of
lies.'

Her views can probably be judged from her
jaundiced view of British history in India. She writes that all
Europeans (the British, Dutch,
Portuguese and French) were
contemptuous of Indians right from the earliest times[37&91;,
she seems to make no ready exceptions to this hard and fast rule, accusing
Europeans of 'holding their contempt in reserve while it was judicious to do
so, until the forts were constructed and the block houses built and the royal
signatures obtained on the documents of possession.' By this reckoning the
'contempt' (in Bengal) startedin 1696 whenthe Governor's House and the warehouse were fortified as a result of
Shobha Singh's rebellion. But even some fiftyyears later these 'defences' were not much to write home about. James
Mitchell[38&91;,
who visited the city in 1748, noticed that 'the Governor's House and the
Company's store and warehouses' were 'surrounded by a high wall without a moat,
with bastions planted with a few canon and a battery of 30 guns facing the
river, and a feeble garrison... The town of Calcutta is about two miles north
of the Fort... open, without any defence of great extent'.Mitchell went on to observe that the houses
of the British were scattered at a small distance from the fort, impeding its
defence. The very year before the loss of Calcutta,
Captain Leigh Jones, the commandant of the artillery, pointed out the ruinous
state of the fortifications, and urged their being repaired. Such were Ms.
Macfarlane's forts andblockhouses!

The so-called holes
in Holwell's story are imaginary. The criticisms are paper
tigers that do not stand up to logical and historical scrutiny. Well-meaning
Indian patriots and their politically correct allies have over the course of
many decades created a myth that a fact is fantasy. These 'holes in the story'
have become the 'emperors new clothes' - only a fool is supposed to deny they
exist, despite the obvious fact that the monarch is nude!

'Time - the Devourer of Everything'

(Ovid Metamorphoses)

In 1803, when Lord
Valentiamade his
grand tour. The Black Hole prison was still in existence, albeit in a
dilapidated state. It was then so full of merchandise that he could not even
get in. Nine years later when it was on the point of being completely
demolished, a writer who styled himself Asiaticus[39&91;
left an account of it in a letter to the Asiatic Journal:

The formidable
Black Hole is now no more. Early in the year 1812, I visited it. It was
situated in the Old Fort of Calcutta and was then on the eve of demolition.
Since that time the Fort has come down, and on its site have been erected some
extensive, warehouses of the Company. I recollect joining one of the party in Calcutta for the purpose
of paying a last visit to this melancholy spot. It consisted of three married
ladies, two gentlemen, their husbands and myself. The ladies were successful,
by noise and laughter, in dissipating gloomy recollection, but I had been
better pleased had they suffered us to recall in some measure to our minds
those events connected with the spot on which we stood. It presented on
entering, the appearance of an oven: being long, dark and narrow. One window, if
I recollect right, was the utmost, and this secured by bars. The escape of even
the small number who survived the horrid fate of the rest is surprising, and
can only be accounted for by the accident of their being near the window, and
the night air, which in Bengal is commonly
damp, allaying the fever which consumed the rest. Perhaps too the pungent
effluvia of the dead bodies, which on all sides surrounded them, may have
possessed on the atmosphere, in some slight degree, the effects of vinegar;
thus converting what at the moment must have appeared the most dreadful of
evils into a security for those who outlived the night.

At this juncture, t
is well worth mentioning a very curious declaration made by Captain E. Buckle
in his history of the Bengal Artillery. ‘The following’, says Buckle, ‘was
copied from an inscription on charcoal on the wall of a small mosque on the
declivity of a hill about a mile from Chunar, and the same distance from the Ganges, in October, 1780:

This is the place
of confinement of Ann Wood, wife of Lieutenant John Wood, taken prisoner by
Jaffer Beg, Commander to Sir Roger Dowler [Siraj&91;, taken out of the house at Calcutta where so
many unhappy gentlemen suffered; the said Jaffer Beg obtained promotion of
Segour Dowler [sic&91; for his long service, Foujdar of ChunarGar. I,
Alexander Campbell, was taken, along with the unfortunate lady, at eleven years
old, by the same persons, who made me a eunuch; my only employment was to
attend this lady, which I did in this place for four years.

In 1891, when a
portion of the old Custom Housewas
pulled down, and the ground opened up for laying the foundations of the new
offices of the Calcutta Collectorate. The walls and lower dungeon of the Black
Hole were found, and the site being now fixed without doubt, the opportunity
was taken to mark the spot with a granite slab, which bore, however, no
inscription. An obelisk that once memorialised the event has been banished to a
corner of St. John's
church (a little south of BBD Bagh) where it is at least in good company, Admiral
Watson is also buried here and this is where Job Charnockhas his
octagonal mausoleum. The graveyard is not well looked after and is choked by
weeds.

Sir Robert Clive

Includes certain extracts from
Colonel G. B. Malleson's:

Lord Cliveand the Establishment of
the English in India (1907).

Calcutta was retaken largely through the
efforts of Sir Robert Cliveand his
subsequent activities in Bengal laid the
foundations for British rule in Bengal and India as a
whole.

A full portrayal of
his extraordinary eventful career can not be discussed here fully as much of it
took place in South India yet in order to get
a fuller understanding of the man and his character something should be said of
his previous achievements and misadventures.

Because of the
extraordinary length of his outward passage, Clivearrived
in Madraspenniless
and a gentleman resident in that city, to whom he carried letters of
introduction had already quitted the place and returned to Europe.
Under these circumstances Clivewas
forced to borrow from the captain of the ship in which he had come out; and he
complained (probably not without reason) of the exorbitant interest placed upon
the loan.

Being reserved in
manner, proud, and destitute of recommendations to any of the residents of Madras, he kept aloof from them all, and was of course
in his turn ignored. Eight months after his arrival, he writes emotionally to a
cousin:

I have not been unacquainted
with the fickleness of fortune, and may safely say I have not enjoyed one happy
day since I left my native country; I am not acquainted with any one family in
the place, and have not assurance enough to introduce myself without being
asked.

He soon began to
get depressedand acquired a black
depression that never afterwards wholly left him. Besides being wayward and
irritable to a degree which rendered him an unsafe companion, Clivebegan
already to labour under occasional suicidal outbursts that may explain much of
his impetuous bravery in battle.

In one of his bleak
moods he decided to blow his brains out. He withdrew one day to his own room in
the Writer's Buildings. A few hours afterwards one of his companions knocked at
the door, and was admitted. He found Cliveseated in
a far corner of the apartment, with a table near him, on which lay a pistol.
'Take it and fire it over the window,' said Clive, pointing to the weapon. His friend did so; and
it fired. No sooner was the gun heard than Clive, jumping from his seat, exclaimed, 'I twice
snapped that pistol at my own head, and it would not go off.'

In 1848 the Rev. G. R. Gliegcommented:'Strange
as this story may read, it is not unlikely to be true. The explosion of a
pistol at last which has previously missed fire is an event of too frequent
occurrence to stagger the most sceptical; and the after-career of the man
affords sufficient ground for believing that there were many moments in his
life when the thought of self-destruction was not unlikely to be present with
him.'

Bored of the
Company's cash, brown maidens, golden beaches and swaying palm-trees, he seems
to have pined for -of al places- Manchester,
and with a vivid intensity. Writing to one of his cousins, he says:

I must confess, at
intervals, when I think of my dear native England, it affects me in avery particular manner. If I should be so far
blessed as to revisit again my own country, but more especially Manchester, the
centre of all my wishes, all that I could hope for or desire would be presented
before me in one view.

The war of Austrian
succession, which had for some years desolated Europe,
in was extended in 1745 and 1746 to Asia. England and Francehad taken
opposite sides in the quarreland the
Frenchfleets
obtained a temporary dominance of the Indian seas. The chief seat of her power
was, nearby Pondicherry, where Dupleix, a man of great ambition and
some talent, actively plotted the overthrow of British powerin South Asia.

Madraswas taken
and the English Governor with some of the chief members of the factory, was
conveyed under guard to Pondicherry, and marched through the townin the manner of captives in a Roman
procession. As for Clive, he escaped from the Frenchclutches
by blackening his face and dressing as an Indian, after which he tookshelter at Fort St. David.

For some time
after his arrival, Cliveappears
to have led a life of 'unprofitable indolence'. His services were not required
at this commercial establishment already overstaffed with clerks - the onset of
hostilities having compelled most of them to suspend their commercial
undertakings. Bored and frustrated, he sought solace at the gaming-table. It
happened upon a certain occasion that two officers with whom he had been
engaged in a game were found to be cheating. They had won significant sums of
money form various persons present, and among those stung was young Clive; who refused to pay. A quarrel ensued and, in
typical Georgian fashion, one of them demanded a duel. The combatants met to settle the dispute.
Clivewas the
first to fire, but missed, and stood at the mercy of his adversary. Who walked
up to him, pointed the pistol to his head and threatened to blow his brains out
if he did not get an apology. Clivetold him
to 'fire and be damned!' Had his adversary done so India's history would have taken a
different course - as it was, he simply laughed, called him mad and departed.

Clivefought
bravely when the fort was attacked by the French. Being quite calm in battle and indifferent to
incoming fire, his reckless exposure to enemy fire did not go unnoticed and he
received his first promotion.

It was not just his
suicidal bravery but also his sharp mind that gained him respect and success.
He thought nothing of frontally attacking a foe whilst desperately outnumbered,
yet at the same time always chose a right time and place to attack.

On one occasion he
was sleeping in a tent when the enemy sneaked into the camp. Bullets started
ripping through the fabric. A shot splintered the foot of his bed and a servant
that slept nearby was killed. Clive, thinking that the commotion was caused by his
own troops nervously firing at fleeting shadows, charged outside screaming
abuse and orders at a group of sepoys [Indian soldiers&91;, who turned out to be
enemy troops and gashed him twice with their swords. Realising his mistake, he
rallied his own men, took a number of Frenchprisonersand
repelled the attack.

In another
engagement, almost all the Englishmen to his left and right fell dead and
injured, but Clivedid not
falter and pushed on with the attack, had he retreated, a line of Sepoys slowly
advancing behind the insane bullet-proof Englishmen would certainly have
followed suit and ran.

His victories were mostly gained with Indian
troops, who noticed his luck and skill and willingness to share their risks.
Moreover, the East India Company were very methodical and reliable when it came
to paying their wages; something they could not always rely upon when serving
native princes. With the help of such loyal troops, Clivepulled
off some of the most remarkable victories in British military history, against
French, Indian and even Dutchadversaries.

Much must remain
untold, as our story begins in 1756 when news reached Madrasof the
fall of Calcutta.

The story of the
capture of Kasimbazarreached Madrason the 15thof July. The Governor immediately despatched a
detachment of 230 European troops for the Hooghly,
under command of Major Kilpatrick, and his detachment reached its position off
the village of Fulta, on the 2ndof August.

It was not until
three days after the arrival of Kilpatrick at Fultathat
information of the Black Hole outrage reached Madras. The position there was critical. The Governor
was in daily expectation ofhearing that
war had been declared with France, and he had already parted with a large
detachment of his best troops. The question was whether, in the presence of the
possible danger likely to arise from France, he should still further
denude the Presidency he administered. The discussion was long. It was finally
resolved to dispatch to the Hooghly every
available ship and man. The discussion as to the choice of the commander was
still more prolonged; but, after others had insisted on their rights, it was finally
determined to commit the command of the land-forces to Clive-who had been summoned from Fort St. George,however, to Admiral Watson, went the command of the naval squadron. It
was not until the second week of October that every detail was settled, nor
until the sixteenth of that month that the fleet set sail towards the the Hooghly.

The land-forces at the disposal of Cliveconsisted
(including the few remnants of Kilpatrick’s detachment[40&91;,
which had suffered greatly from disease) of 830 Europeans, 1200 sepoys, and a
detail of artillery, one ship, containing over 200, had not arrived, and many
were on the sick-list.

On the 17thof December Watson had written to the Nawab to
demand redress for the losses suffered by the Company, but no answer had been
vouchsafed. As soon then as all the ships had assembled off Fulta, Watson wrote again to inform him that they
should take the law into their own hands. On the 27ththe fleet weighed anchor, and stood upwards.
On the 29thit anchored off
Maiapur, a village ten miles below the fort of Baj-baj.[41&91; It
was obvious to both commanders that that fort must be taken; but a difference
of opinion occurred as to the mode in which it should be assailed, Cliveadvocated
proceeding by water, and landing within easy distance of the place, Watson
insisting that the troops should land near Maiapur, and march thence. Clive, much against his own opinion, followed this
order. Landing, he covered the ten miles, and posted his troops in two villages
from where it would be easy to attack the fort the following day. The troops,
tired with the march, and fearing no enemy, then lay down to sleep. But the
Governor of Calcutta had reached Baj-baj that very morning with a force of 2000
foot and 1500 horse. He had noted, unseen, all the dispositions of Clive, and at nightfall he sallied forth to surprise
him. The surprise took effect, in the sense that it placed the English force
invery great danger. But it was just
one of those situations in which Clivewas at
his very best. He recognised at that moment that if he were to cause his troops
to fall back beyond reach of the enemy's fire, there would be a great danger of
a panic. He ordered therefore the line to stand firm where it was, whilst he
detached two platoons, from different points, to assail the enemy. One of these
suffered greatly from the enemy's fire, but the undaunted conduct ofthe English in pressing on against
superior numbers so impressed the native troops that they fell back, despite
the very gallant efforts of their officers to rally them. Clivewas then
able to form his main line in an advantageous position, and shot from one of
his field-pieces grazing the turban of their commander, which unnerved him and
he gave the signal to retire.

On reporting the
engagement to the Governor of Madras, Clivestated
that his losses in this encounter were greater than could well be spared if
such skirmishes were to be often repeated. One ensign-and nine privates were
killed, and eight wounded. But the enemy's losses were much higher and the
people in the surrounding countryside spread exaggerated and demoralising tales
about how bad the defeat was.

After that, some
debate ensued about storming the fort. The ships had taken-out the fort's
cannons, and Captain Cootewas keen
to launch an attack. Clive, sensibly gave orders that this was not to be
done till the light of day the next morning.

The English made
camp for the night, slept, waited and kept watch.Apparently, an utterly drunkIrish
sailor named Strahan, was not satisfied with this arrangement and decided that
if the army and navy were going to idly procrastinate, then he would have to do
the job himself.

Armed with a
cutlass and pistol he sneaked away from the camp and staggered towards the
fort. He entered it through a breach, and discovered a number of Indian
soldiers sitting on a platform. He dischargedhis pistol at them at close range and laid into them him his sword,
screaming, 'the place is mine!'

The Indians
counter attackedand the sailor began to
fight desperately for his life, even to the point where he broke his sword.
Shocked at hearing the noise of close combat at such an early hour, the British
sent some soldiers to investigate. These soon got sucked into the fray, as did
others who came to their aid. As more and more British firepower slowly came to
bare, the Indians withdrew.

The fort had been
taken but the English officers were not amused by the anarchic and disorderly manner
in which it had been achieved. Strahan was dragged before the Admiral for gross
breach of military discipline, and asked why he had taken it upon himself to
attack the fort, he responded: 'Why, to be sure, Sir, it was I who took the
fort, but I hope there was no harm in it.'

The humour of the
situation was not completely lost on the admiral, but orders were orders. Strahan was sternly
reprimanded. As he was being dragged away by the guards, he muttered'if I am flogged for this here action, I will
never take another fort by myself as long as I live, by God!'

This farce was
however the last and only resistance by the Siraj's army before Calcutta was reoccupied - on January 2, 1757, with
minimal opposition.

A great altercation
took place between that officer and Watson as to the appointment of Governor of
that town. Watson had actually nominatedMajor EyreCoote,
but Cliveprotested
so strongly that, eventually Watson himself took possession, and then handed
the keys to Mr. Drake, the same Drake who had so shamefully abandoned the place
at the time of Siraj's attack. Three days later Clivestormed
the important town of Hugli,
once a Portuguese settlement, afterwards held by the English, but at the time
occupied for the Nawab.

Meanwhile that prince, collecting his army, numbering about 40,000 men
of sorts, was marching to recover his lost conquest. To observe him Clivetooka position at Kasipur, a suburb of Calcutta. As the Nawab approached, the English leader
made as though he would attack him, but finding him prepared, he drew back to
await a better opportunity. By the 3rdof February the entire army of the Nawab had encamped just beyond the
regular line of the Maratha ditch. Clivedespatched two envoys to negotiate with the Nawab, but finding that they were
received with derision and insults, he borrowed some sailors from the Admiral,
and, obtaining his assent to the proposal, resolved to attack him before dawn
of the next day. Accordingly at three o’ clock on the morning of the 4thof February, Clivebroke up,
and, under the covers of one of those densefogs so common in Bengal about
Christmas time, penetrated within Siraj's camp. Again he was in imminent danger. For
when, at six o’ clock, the fog lifted for a few seconds, he found the enemy's
cavalry massed along his flank. They were as surprised at the proximity as was
Clivehimself,
and a sharp volley sent them scampering away. The fog again descended : Cliveknew not
exactly where he was; his men were becoming confused and Cliveknew that
the step from confusion to panic was but a short one but he never lost his
presence of mind. He kept his men together; and when at eight O'clock, there
was a second lifting of the fog, he recognised that he was in the very centre
of the enemy's camp, he marched boldly forward, and not only extricated his
troops, but so impressed Sirajthat he
drew off his army, and on the 9thsigned a treaty, by which he covenanted to
grant to the English more than their former privileges, and promised the
restoration of the property he had seized at the capture of Calcutta. This
accident of the fog and its consequences form, indeed, the keynotes of the
events that followed. The circumstances connected with it completely dominated
the mind of the Siraj; instilled into his mind so great a fear of the
English leader that he came entirely under his influence, and, though often
kicking against it, remained under it to the end.

I think,
deep down, Sir Robert Clivewould
have liked to have died a violent and heroic death -perhaps killed at the head of his troops by a
well aimed Indian bullet or cut down in battle by a dozenrazor-sharp lances. He gave fate ample opportunity
to effect this, and there were no end of Indians who would have been delighted
to offer him the service - yet it was not to be.

On November 22nd1774, on a
snowy day in Londontown,
heralded as a national hero, in affluent circumstances and in a palatial home,
Lord Clivetook his
own life.

---

Tis said now that
tis certain Lord Clivekill'd himself, and the reason given for this
unhappy action is the horror of his mind.... The method he took to deprive
himself of life was, I believe what nobody ever thought of before; he cut his
throat with a little instrument that is bought at the Stationers to scratch out
anything upon paper; I don't know what it is called; but 'tis so small he must
have been some time before he could affect his purpose, and must have been very
determined to proceed when he was giving himself such terrible pain: reason
there can be none for such action, but I wish to know what it was that could
give him so dreadful a thought.

Lady Mary, 1774.

Detail from The Black Hole of Calcutta Memorial (photo taken by author in 2004)

REST IN PEACE

[1&91;I must have seen at least ten different spellings of this same name,
the above and 'ud Dowla' seems to be the most common.

[2&91;A History of the Military
Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from the Year MDCCXLV. (Vol. I 1763, Vol. II in two parts, 1778).

[3&91;'In the beginning of April [1756&91; letters had been received from
England, informing the presidency that war with Francewas inevitable, and ordering
them to put the settlement in a state of defence; but to do this work was
impossible without building the fort anew. However, a great number of labourers
were sent to repair a line of guns which extended on the brink of the river to
the Western side of the fort.' (Orme - Military
Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from the Year MDCCXLV, 1778).

[4&91;So prominent was this unfinished earthwork that for decades the
British residents were termed 'the Ditchers'.

[5&91;'This cast is called here topas, from the word topi, which signifies
in the Portuguese language a hat. The name is given to such Indians as change
their own for the European dress, and wear a hat instead of a turban.'
(Grandpre, 1790).

[6&91;H.E. Busteed (Echoes from Old
Calcutta, 1888) seems to put much emphasis on the usefulness of the
artillery captured at Kasimbazar, Orme
however berates this armament. (Military
Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from the Year MDCCXLV, 1778).

[7&91;A letter to the Dutchfrom Siraj, 1756: 'I had written to you from Moorshedabad that you were to
join your power to the King's army for the destruction of the wicked English by
water, though your not doing so is of no account whatever and you were asked
only to put you to the test, for by God's blessing and help I am so strongly
provided that I find myself able to exterminate ten such nations as these
English, and if you wish to ensure the continuation of the Company's trade in
this country, you will have to act in accordance with what I caused to be made
known to you.' Being frustrated with Dutchinaction Sirajranted: 'Tell the Hollanders,
they must bring me twenty lacs [2 million&91; of rupees or I will ruin them as I
have done the English'.

[10&91;The road from Lalbazarto the Old Church was
formerly named the 'Rope Walk'.

[11&91;Considering Siraj's hugely disproportionate losses during this siege, reports of such
heroism can be taken seriously.

[12&91;Nirad C. Chaudhuri in his excellent book Robert Cliveof India,
gives some insight into this Bengali insult. Banchot is apparently a Bengali
corruption of the Hindi abusive phrase Bahen Chod, often preceded by the word
Sala - which translates as 'O Brother-in-law, fuck your sister' - an expression
of extreme contempt.

[13&91; Mrs. Carey’s age at the time of the interview is given as fifty-eight. The
famous note reads ''August 13, 1799: - This afternoon between the hours of 10
and 11 O'clock, visited by appointment, in company of with Mr. Charles Child, at
her house in Calcutta, situated in an angle at the head of the Portuguese
Church Street, and east of the church, Mrs. Carey, the
last survivor of those unfortunate persons who were imprisoned in the Black
Hole at Calcutta, on the capture of the place in 1756 by Siraj-ud-Dowla. This lady, now fifty-eight years of age, as she herself
told me, is of a size rather above the common stature; and very well
proportioned: of a fair Mesticia [Mestiza&91; colour, with correct regular
features, which gave evident marks of beauty which must once have attracted
admiration. She confirmed everything which Mr. Holwellhad said on the subject of
the Black Hole in his letters, and added that besides her husband, her mother,
Mrs. Eleanor Watson (her name by second marriage), and her sister, aged about
ten years, had also perished therein, and that other women, the wives of soldiers,
and children, had shared a like fate there.'

[14&91; 'This platform was raised between three and four feet from the
floor, open underneath: it extended the whole length of the east side of the
prison, and was above six feet wide.' (Original note by Holwell).

[15&91; 'Rajah Monickchund, appointed by the Suba governor of Calcutta'.
(Original note by Holwell).

[17&91; 'Unable to fall by the throng and equal pressure round.' (Original
note by Holwell).

[18&91;John Mills survived the ordeal. When on leave in England a few years
later he married a famous actress 'who loved him for the dangers he had
passed'. The lady, who had previously been a widow, returned with him to India.

[19&91;'A sentence of death common in Indostan.'
(Original note by Holwell).

[21&91;As regards this fitful show of solidarity, Holwelladds: 'The whole body of
Armenianmerchants too were most kind
and friendly to us; particularly Aga Manuel Satoor: we were not a little indebted
to the obliging good-natured behaviour of Messrs. Hastingsand Chambers, who gave them
as much of their company as they could. They had obtained their liberty by the
Frenchand DutchChiefs becoming bail for
their appearance. This security was often tendered for us, but without
effect.'

[22&91;Anonymous
notes on the East India Company from 1780 (from Thoughts on Improving the Government of the British Territorial
Possessions in the East Indies): ‘The Court of Directors, or in other words a committee of merchants, are
in the nature of things unfitted for the purpose of governing that country in
which their exclusive monopoly is exercised. Merchandize is the first object
with merchants. Government will only be an accessory, a mere secondary
consideration, subservient to its principle. To sell very dear and purchase
cheap by dint of authority and power, will be the neutral consequence of this
impolitic union of the mercantile and sovereign characters; and temporary
profit will in a great degree take place of lasting policy, even among the
Directors. The mercantile character is no way suited to the exercise of
authority, nor can they maintain in any other way than by the assistance of
military force. The first object with a body of professional men, is their
profession. Merchandise is the first object with
merchants. Government will only be an accessory, a mere secondary
consideration, subservient to its principle. To sell very dear, and to purchase
cheap by dint of authority and power, will be the natural consequence of this
impolitic union of the mercantile and sovereign characters; and temporary
profit will in a great degree take place of lasting policy, even among the
Directors. The mercantile character is no way suited to exercise authority, nor
can they maintain it in any other way than by the assistance of military force.
The Directors of the company are nothing more than a committee ofthe stock holders, chosen from among
themselves by ballot; and when they are just chosen, almost the whole of the
government interest in India as well as the trading concerns of the company, is
committed to their charge, subject to the review of the stockholders at large
is the welfare of twelve millions of people [Bengal&91;. Nothing surely can be
more contrary to every principle of government which has been known among men,
than that such a fate should ultimately depend upon the votes of a large number
of accidental proprietors of stock, men of all nations and all descriptions,
who purchase a share of its government today and may sell it again tomorrow. It
may I believe be safely asserted, that the government of a distant Empire was
never before placed in a body of men so fluctuating in nature, and related to
the subject-matter of their government by no other tie, than that of getting a
tolerable interest for one or two thousand pounds.’
Viscount George Valentia, 1803: ‘In spite of
the many abuses which existed from the want of education and capacity in those
invested with the magistracy of the country the situation of those provinces,
where the administration of the Government had been chiefly confided to
Europeans, was, under every disadvantage, happier and more flourishing than the
situation of those principally ruled by native authorities.’

[23&91;The famous and spirited uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto only claimed
the lives of about one hundred SS and Polish policemen.

[24&91;From Carey's The Good Old Days
of Honourable John Company, 1877.

[26&91;'Mr. Stavorinus[1739-1788&91; was post-captain
in the naval service of the Stabes-General; but a long period of peace, and the
little employment that occurred in the Dutchnavy for men of enterprise and
abilities, prompted him to request permission to go on a voyage to the
East-Indies as captain in the employ of the DutchEast-India Company,
retaining, however, his rank of Captain in the navy. He was afterwards promoted
to the rank of rear-admiral, which he held at the time of his death.'
(Wilcocke, 1798).

[27&91;The wording'to the memory
of' would indicate that he is only referring to the Europeans that died
andnot to the overall quantity of
people interned and non-European fatalities. Some twenty years later, Thomas
Twining observed: ' I entered the tank square, as the great area was called,
stood an obelisk in a neglected ruinous state. As it was only a few yards out
of my way, I went up to it. From my very early years few things had filled my
mind with more horror than the very name of the Black Hole of Calcutta,
although the exact history of its tragic celebrity was unknown to me. With
peculiar force was this impression revived, when, on deciphering an almost
obliterated inscription, I found that the column which I beheld was the
monument which had been erected to the memory of the victims of that horrible
massacre. A native who accompanied me pointed to the part of the fort south of
the principal gate in which the fatal dungeon itself was situated.' The
original monument was struck by lightening!

[28&91;Stanhope reached Calcutta in September, 1774. He left Calcutta on
the 30th of December, 1774, but was shipwrecked on the coast of Orissa. He survived and returned to Calcutta in March 1775. In April 1775,
he finally made a successful journey southward and never returned to Calcutta (See
'SHIPWRECKED IN ORISSA 1775'). He wrote under the pen name
"Asiaticus", as did several others.

[29&91;The reference is obviously to Mrs. Carey. Hawkesworth's The East India Chronologist, 1801, P. 90: ‘A
native (Portuguese-progeny) lady. She was the wife of Peter Carey, a Naval
Officer, who was suffocated in that fatal prison. Mr. Holwellinforms us she was then in
the bloom of youth and beauty, which caused her detention, and when the other
prisonerswere liberated, this charming
weeping captive was led to grace the Zenana of the General, Meer Jaffier, from
whence she shortly afterwards escaped to Calcutta and the protection of the
reinstated English. She died on March
28, 1801.'

[30&91;William. Hodges (1744 -1797), Painter and Royal Academician, born in
Londonin 1744, was only child of a
smith, who kept a small shop in St. James Market. He retired from the
profession in 1790 and in 1795 settled at Dartmouth; and opened a bank. The
troubles, however, which affected the financial world at the time proved the
ruin of his firm. Hodges died shortly afterwards at Brixham, Devonshire, of gout in the stomach, on 6 March 1797, aged 53. On 16 October 1784, he had married a Miss Lydia
Wright, who soon died. Shortly afterwards he married a Miss Carr. She survived
him a few months, and died at Turnbridge in May of the same year. By her he had
five children, whom he left in great want. (Dictionary of National Biography, IX,
pp. 955 - 956).

[31&91;Secretary Cookesurvived the incident, became member of
Council and afterwards gave evidence before the Parliamentary Committee of
1772.

[32&91; As regards the abandonment of those still battling the enemy,
Holwellobserves: 'They know the desperate state they
had left and abandoned us in, without all possibility of means of escape or
retreat; and this their own doing. They were sensible we had not ammunition to
defend the Fort two days, or if we had, that our strength, with continued
fatigue, watching, and action ,was exhausted, and that we were reduced to the
wretched alternatives of either sacrificing our lives by resolving to die sword
in hand, or surrender ourselves to an enraged and merciless enemy; and yet
neither ships, vessels or boats were sent to favour our retreat, inquire what
was our fate, or whether we existed or had perished.'

[33&91;Busteed also claims that 146 Europeanswere left behind, but he does not give his
source.

[34&91;'...about 20 of the garrison ran to the N.W. Bastion, and dropped
from the embrasures, where some escaped along the slime of the river, and
others were surrounded and taken prisoners.' (Orme - Military
Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from the Year MDCCXLV, 1778).

[36&91;Holwellrelates: 'Then a general prayer to heaven, to
hasten the approach of the flames to the right and left of us' (Interesting Historical Events Relative to
the Province of Bengal and the Empire of Indostan. p. 264) a clear
indication that the nearby flames were visible through both windows, and
conceivably shedding light into the small room.

[37&91;As an indication of the high esteem in which India was placed, right
up until the beginning of the 18thcentury,
we have such books as Geography
Anatomised written by P. Gordon and published in England when Calcutta was
in its third year. Under the section titled: 'India, comprehending the Great MogulsEmpire', we read: 'It aboundeth very much with spices of all sorts, and
Civets. It furnisheth the best Medicinal Drugs, and all kinds of Metals…. It is
also very famous for Camels, Apes, Serpents, Rhinocerots and Elephants. In a
word, there is no Country in the World richer than this…. Commodoties of
Peninsula India are Metals, Silks, Cottons, Pearls, Drugs, Coco’s, Rice,
Ginger, Cinnamon, Pepper, Caffia, &c. And lastly, The chief Commodities of
India extra Gangem, are Gold, Silver, precious Stones, Silks, Porcelline Earth,
Aloes, Musk, Rhubarb, Alabaster, &c.The inhabitants of this Country, viz. the Indians, are generally
affirm’d to be a people tall of Stature, strong of Body, and in Complexion
inclining to that of Negroes. In their Behaviour they are said to be abundantly
civil, and many of them are wonderfully ingenious. They abhor fraud in their
dealings, and are punctual observers of their word. ' Predating this book, we
have works such as Newes from the East Indies or Voyage to Bengalla, One of the Greatest
Kingdomes... by William Bruton(1638). This early traveller
to Orissa, certainly had an aversion to Hinduism, but of the Hindus
themselves, he writes: 'These people are notable ingenious men; let it be in
what art or science soever, and will imitate any workmanship that shall be
brought before them: for the most part of them hate idleness, and those that do
no study in some art or other, are counted droanes and dead men amongst the
best and chiefest sort of people: They have a custom, that always before dinner
they do call their childrenand young people in their
houses together and do examine how they had spent their time from the
sunne-rising, and if they could not give a good account of it, they were not
admitted to the table; and so every day, and if they did not improve themselves
the next time in some knowledge of laudable things, they are most severely
chastised.' Long after the 'fortifications' were built, there emerge
innumerable examples ofan understanding
between many Englishmen and Indians, not just from ordinary working people, but
from men of rank and importance. Lest I stray too far from the point I can give
but a few examples here, but please take me at my word that the following
quotations are far from unique. In 1825, Bishop Heber (a great chronicler of
the city) wrote: 'Of the people, so far as their natural character is concerned,
I have been led to form, on the whole, a very favourable opinion. They have,
unhappily, many of the vices arising from slavery, from an unsettled state of
society, and immoral and erroneous system of religion. [Castes, human
sacrifice, Sati, etc.&91; But they are men of high and gallant courage, courteous,
intelligent, and most eager after knowledge and improvement with a remarkable
aptitude for the abstract sciences, geometry, astronomy, &c., and for the
imitative arts, painting and sculpture. They are sober, industrious, dutiful to
their parents, and affectionate to their children, of tempers almost uniformly
gentle and patient, and more easily affected by kindness and attention to their
wants and feelings than almost any men whom I have met with.' One of the last
governors of Bengal, the Rt. Hon. R. G. Casey, wrote in his 1947 memoir, An Australian in India: 'The people of
Bengal are sensitive, most intelligent and ofquicksympathies. We like to
think that we made many friends amongst them. Unless one likes the people
amongstwhom, one is working, life very
quickly becomes a burden, and we did not find it a burden at all.'

[38&91;James Mitchell, purser of the H.M.S. Harwich, visited Calcutta in
1747 and 1748. Mitchell's narrative was not noticed till 1933.His
Journal of a Voyage to the East Indies in His Majesty's Ship Harwich of 50 Guns
and 350 Men was found among papers relating to Indian history collected by
John Bruce, author of the Annals of the
East India Company and historiographer to the East India Company. Bruce's
discovery of the 'Journal' is noted by him thus : 'In searching an old desk I
found the Journal of a Voyage to India in the Harwich which had remained at the
bottom under other useless Books unnoticed for 50 years past, and that I might
amuse a solitary hour with the retrospect of Scenes in early life, I determined
to revise, correct and transcribe it with such authentic additions as I could
recollect - Being this 2nd May 1801, within a few days of my 80th year.'

[39&91; Not to be confused with Captain Philip D. Stanhopewho published a book under
the same name.

[40&91;Orme states that one-half of them had died and that only thirty were
fit for duty.

[41&91; This fort fell into disuse in February 1793, when all its guns and
stores were ordered back to Calcutta.

Here’s how and why …. All of us have four grandparents, and most of us have eight great grandparents, and sixteen great-great grandparents. This doubling of “great” grandparents usually happens with every generation as you go back in time. I say “usually” because things can get complicated if cousins or even distant cousins marry, in which case the married couple will share at least one common grandparent and/or some common great grandparents. Every century there can be anything between two to five generations in any given family tree, but for arguments sake, we will call it three generations per century here. Going by that estimate, to arrive in the 12th century AD, you would have to go back 26 generations, by which time you potentially have over sixty million great x25 grandparents. If in doubt, grab a calculator and do the mathematics. Because of the convergence of family trees, and generations getting mixed up, I do not pretend that you had tens of millions of direct ancestors walking around in the 12th century, but it would have certainly amounted to several millions. The population of Europe was so low at the time, that several million people, selected almost randomly, would have been a very wide and well-represented cross-section of medieval society, of which at least one would have been a king, a prince or princess of some description. Also, at least one of these millions would have (almost certainly) been a Jewess by birth. According to Jewish law and custom, Jewishness is never diluted, can never be repudiated and is passed down the female line. So, in the last millennium, if any one of your millions of female ancestors (on your mother's side) was born a Jewess, then (according to Jewish law) you’re Jewish too. As far as our much-cherished surnames go, if you went back to around 1700 AD when you had a mere five hundred great x9 grandfathers, probably only one of those individuals bore your surname, and that individual was as genetically relevant to who you are as all your other great x9 grandfathers. Indeed, more than 99% of your direct ancestors over the last five hundred years, did not share your surname.

Welcome to our new website! It's still a work in progress, but we thought it complete enough to go live with. It has the same web address as always though. This new website has improved credit card facilities (you no longer have to go through PayPal for credit card payments if you don't want to) but most of all, it's ipad and mobile phone responsive, so the site looks different, behaves differently and is easier to use with each viewing method.

We must admit that there have been quite a few gaping holes in our inventory over the last few months. This has now been rectified. Over the next two weeks many old favourites will re-appear on the website as well as totally new items. We hope to be uploading about four new products a day for the rest of this month. Another new feature of the site is an RSS feed, so you can keep a close eye on these activities if you so wish.

For many years (just through laziness I guess) we've been using the Yahoo network for our emails. I was perpetually procrastinating about buying Microsoft Outlook and hooking up a proper email to the domain name - as I did realize that having a Yahoo address wasn't that impressive. But to make things far worse, about five months ago Yahoo seemed to fall out with the e-bay owned company who were running our old website, and throughout this time we were not even getting half of our emails - so if you were ever "ignored" - it was not intentional! The old Yahoo email address will still be monitored, but the official email address is now, ........ wait for it ........ info@medievalshoppe.com.au .....